فهرست مطالب rama bozorgmehr

 Smoking is one of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. Although numerous studies have evaluated the long-term consequences of smoking, few studies have assessed the short-term effects of smoking, especially on the electrical activity of the heart. The aim of this study was the evaluation of the acute effect of smoking on cardiac electrical function and hemodynamic indices in smokers.

Materials: 

In this single-arm pretest-posttest study, 130 healthy smokers participated if they had smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime and were smoking daily. After considering the exclusion criteria, participants were monitored before and 10 minutes after smoking by electrocardiography (ECG) to measure QT dispersion (QTD) and P-wave dispersion (PWD), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), heart rate (HR), and respiration rate (RR). Finally, the data obtained before and after smoking were compared.

 The mean age of the participants was 40.3 ± 10.6 years (range 19 to 71 years). 55 (42.3%) participants smoked between 10-15 years and 67 (51.5%) smoked 10 to 20 pack-years. After smoking, SBP (127.3 ± 10.4 vs. 138.4 ± 12.8 mmHg), QTD (33.5 ± 9.6 vs. 43.9 ± 10.7 ms) and PWD (28.9 ± 6.6 vs. 34.5 ± 7.4 ms), HR (80.1±9.8 vs 87.6±9.9) increased significantly (P value <0.001). In other parameters, no significant differences were observed.

 Smoking is associated with an acute increase in QTD and PWD, and thus an increased risk of ventricular arrhythmias (e.g. Torsade’s de pointes), atrial fibrillation, sudden death, and other heart problems.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a multisystem disease, manifested by several symptoms of various degrees. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) can affect the central nervous system (CNS) through several mechanisms and brain imaging plays an essential role in the diagnosis and evaluation of the neurological involvement of COVID-19. Moreover, brain imaging of patients with COVID-19 would result in a better understanding of SARS-CoV-2 neuro-pathophysiology. In this study, we evaluated the brain imaging findings of patients with COVID-19 in Shohada-e Tajrish Hospital, Tehran, Iran.

This was a single-center, retrospective, and observational study. The hospital records and chest and brain computed tomography (CT) scans of patients with confirmed COVID-19 were reviewed.

161 patients were included in this study (39.1% women, mean age: 60.84). Thirteen patients (8%) had ischemic strokes identified by brain CT. Subdural hematoma, subdural effusion, and subarachnoid hemorrhage were confirmed in three patients. Furthermore, there were four cases of intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) and intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH). Patients with and without abnormal brain CTs had similar average ages. The rate of brain CT abnormalities in both genders did not differ significantly. Moreover, abnormal brain CT was not associated with increased death rate. There was no significant difference in lung involvement (according to lung CT scan) between the two groups.

Our experience revealed a wide range of imaging findings in patients with COVID-19 and these findings were not associated with a more severe lung involvement or increased rate of mortality.

Subclinical left ventricular dysfunction is an important predictor of cardiovascular death, detected via the global longitudinal strain (GLS) echocardiographic parameter. While T2DM is associated with a worse GLS, it is not cost-effective to perform 2D speckle tracking echocardiography for all asymptomatic T2DM patients to screen for early signs of subclinical left ventricular dysfunction.

We aimed to investigate the association of possible risk factors with subclinical left ventricular dysfunction assessed by 2D speckle tracking echocardiography in T2DM patients with normal ejection fraction, excluding patients with comorbidities associated with left ventricular dysfunction such as hypertension or any cardiovascular disease.

This cross-sectional study involved patients aged >18 with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and EF ≥ 50% referred to Shohada-e-Tajrish Hospital, Tehran, Iran, from May 2, 2023, to June 21, 2023. Patients with any history or signs and symptoms of heart disease and hypertension were excluded. The correlation of GLS with age, BMI, duration of diabetes, systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and laboratory parameters was assessed using Pearson’s correlation test, with P < 0.05 denoting significance.

In this cross-sectional study, 118 patients consisting of 70 women (59.32%) and 48 men (40.68%) with T2DM were enrolled. The mean age of the participants was 49.61 ± 5.10 years. The mean GLS was -16.71 ± 2.14%. The GLS correlated positively with BMI (P = 0.038 and r = 0.197), SBP (P = 0.003 and r = 0.268), DBP (P = 0.023 and r = 0.209), homocysteine (P = 0.001 and r = 0.310), HbA1C (P = 0.046 and r = 0.184), LDL (P = 0.034 and r = 0.203), and TG (P < 0.001 and r = 0.375), and negatively with GFR (P < 0.001 and r = -0.363).

BMI, SBP, DBP, homocysteine, HbA1C, LDL, TG, and GFR correlated with subclinical left ventricular dysfunction assessed by GLS in patients with T2DM; these markers may offer value in selecting T2DM patients for cost-effective 2D speckle tracking echocardiography screening of subclinical left ventricular dysfunction.

Despite the improvement in COVID-19 therapeutic management the mortality of mechanically ventilated COVID-19 patients remains high. In this study, we determined the risk factors of death in these cases. This cross-sectional study evaluated clinical and paraclinical features of mechanically ventilated COVID-19 patients at the time of hospital admission until death or discharge from hospital between April and September in 2021 in three COVID-19 referral hospitals. The patients were divided into survivors and non-survivors and then the characteristics were compared. One hundred twenty-five patients (60% male, mean age 62±15.18, range 17 to 97 years old) were recruited to the study. 51(40%) survived and 74 (60%) didn’t survive. At the time of hospital admission, the vital signs were not significantly different between the survivors and non-survivors, although diarrhea was not reported in non-survivors, but reported in 9.5% of survivors (P=0.02). The mean age of non-survivors was higher (65.1±14.17 vs 56.9±15.41, P=0.003). The intubation time since the patients were admitted was not significantly different between the two groups (3.38±2.88 days vs 4.16±3.42 days, P=0.34). The mean of serum LDH and D-dimer at the time of ICU admission were significantly higher in the non-survivors (863±449 vs 613±326, P=0.01; 4081±3342 vs 542±634, P=0.009; respectively). However, the mean CRP was not significantly different between the two groups (76±66.4, 54±84.3; P=0.1). Mean APACHE-II score was higher in the non-survivors than the survivors (15 vs 13; P=0.01). Use of remdesivir, interferon beta-1a, and low dose corticosteroids were significantly higher in the survivors group (P=0.009, P=0.001, P=0.000). Success of weaning and ICU discharge among mechanically ventilated COVID-19 patients are probably higher in younger patients with lower D-dimmer and LDH that received remdesivir, interferon beta-1a and low dose corticosteroids, while the intubation time did not seem to play a role on patients' outcome.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an emerging virus that causes a disease mainly known by its pulmonary and thrombotic complications. Although cutaneous complications, including vasculitis, have been reported in infected patients, the development of vasculitis after receiving vaccine is a rare clinical finding. Here, we report a case of vasculitis in a female patient who received a COVID-19 vaccine and was later infected with SARS-CoV-2, and was also diagnosed with hepatitis B during hospitalization. Our patient did not have a previous history of similar cutaneous manifestations of vasculitis, and the development of the symptoms approximately one month from the vaccination suggests immune complex hypersensitivity reaction.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is associated with a variety of physical and emotionaldisorders, and subsequently lower Quality of Life (QOL). This study aimed to investigate the effect of a 2-weekexercise-based pulmonary rehabilitation on clinical characteristics and QOL of severe COVID-19 patients afterdischarge from intensive care unit (ICU).

In this quasi-experimental study, eligible severe COVID-19cases, who had survived and were discharged from ICU were selected using convenience sampling method.Oxygen Saturation ( SpO2), pulse rate, dyspnea, and QOL were evaluated and compared before and after twoweeks of exercise-based pulmonary rehabilitation (PR).

35 cases with the mean age of 57.86 ± 11.73(18-75) years were studied (51.4% female). The mean SpO2 increased from 90.41 ± 3.97 to 95.11 ± 1.96% aftertwo weeks of pulmonary rehabilitation (p<0.0001). In addition, the mean pulse rate (98.97±16.23 to 88.91±14.03pulse/minute; p<0.001) and the mean dyspnea severity (5.6±1.97 to 3.45±1.97; p<0.0001) decreased after twoweeks of intervention. Besides, the mean total QOL and its dimensions, including general health (p<0.0001),physical status (p<0.0001), emotional status (p = 0.036), and social function (p<0.0001) of patients, had signif-icantly increased after intervention.

Based on the findings of this study, it seems that two-weekexercise-based pulmonary rehabilitation could be effective in increasing the SpO2, decreasing dyspnea andpulse rate, and improving the QOL of patients with severe COVID-19 after discharge from ICU.

Efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic are still on. This study aimed to evaluate the effect ofsofosbuvir on length of hospital stay and complications in COVID-19 cases with moderate severity.

This randomized clinical trial was done on moderate COVID-19 cases, who were admitted to Shohadaye TajrishHospital, Tehran, Iran, from 4/2021 to 9/2021. Eligible patients were randomly allocated into two groups ofintervention (sofosbuvir) and control, and their outcomes were compared regarding the length of hospital stayand complications.

100 COVID-19 cases were randomly divided into two groups of 50 patients, asthe intervention and control groups. The mean age of patients was 50.56 ± 12.23 and 57.1±14.1 years in theintervention and control groups, respectively (p = 0.02). The two groups were similar regarding distribution ofgender (p = 0.15), underlying diseases (p = 0.08), the severity of COVID-19 (p = 0.80) at the time of admission,signs and symptoms (p > 0.05), and essential laboratory profile (p > 0.05). The length of hospital stay in thecontrol and intervention groups was 7.7 ± 4.09 days and 4.7±1.6 days, respectively (p = 0.02). None of our patientsneeded ICU or mechanical ventilation.

Sofosbuvir may decrease the length of hospital stay ofCOVID-19 cases with moderate severity, without a significant effect on the rate of intensive care unit (ICU) needand mortality.

Since SARS-CoV-2 virus emerging in winter 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei, China, COVID-19 has spread among different countries. The novel corona virus has affected more than 15,000,000 people all around the world. Becoming pandemic, COVID-19 is a major concern for both people and health systems. Novel corona virus affects multiple organs such as lungs and kidneys which can lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome and acute kidney injury (AKI) ending to death. Furthermore, patients with COVID-19 may present different atypical symptoms making the diagnoses more complicated. The current patient presented to the emergency department with a 7-day history of hemoptysis and hematuria which are among the less common symptoms among patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus. In addition to delayed diagnosis, atypical symptoms and signs make management and treatment more difficult. Awareness of new, atypical symptoms and the effective treatment is associated with better outcome and prognosis.

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a common disease with serious risks such as pulmonary embolismand there are different anticoagulant therapies for treatment of this condition. In this study, we investigatedthe association between the duration of hospitalization with different treatment methods and comorbidities.

In this retrospective cross-sectional study, the hospital records of 213 patients with adiagnosis of acute DVT in Shohada-e-Tajrish Hospital in 2019 and 2020 were reviewed. Patients were dividedinto five main groups and five subgroups based on the type of treatment. Then, the association between theduration of hospitalization and different treatment methods was studied.

Treatment with novel oralanticoagulants (NOACs) with an average length of 2.5 days of hospitalization significantly reduces the durationof hospitalization. Combination therapy with low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) and warfarin or LMWHalone, with an average of 8.38 and 8.20 days, is preferable to treatment with unfractionated heparin (UFH) andwarfarin, with an average of 9.2 days. Warfarin treatment with an average duration of hospitalization of 8.43days is in the third place. The use of other methods has increased the duration of hospitalization. History ofcomorbidities including history of hospitalization, hypertension, smoking, cancer and trauma are the five co-morbidities that have the greatest effect on the length of hospitalization of patients, respectively.

According to the present study, treatment with NOACs reduces the duration of hospitalization of patients morethan the other treatment methods. The second best choice is LMWH injection therapy and continuation withwarfarin or starting and continuing treatment with LMWH preferable to injecting treatment with UFH and con-tinuing with warfarin. The type of underlying disease and comorbidities had a significant effect on the durationof hospitalization.

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is prevalent and challenging for physicians. Previously, the clinicalsymptoms of DVT are different based on the location of the thrombosis. In this study, the anatomic location ofthrombosis and its relation with clinical symptoms and DVT risk factors were investigated.

In this ret-rospective study, the hospital documents of 204 patients with acute lower extremity DVTs in Shohada-e-Tajrishhospital were reviewed from April 2020 to February 2021. The diagnosis was confirmed using Doppler ultra-sound. Based on the location of the thrombosis, the patients were divided into four groups: unilateral proximalgroup (UPG), bilateral proximal group (BPG), unilateral distal group (UDG), and ipsilateral proximal and distalgroup (IPDG). Finally, the frequency of risk factors and symptoms were compared between the groups.

In this retrospective study, 204 patients with the diagnosis of acute lower extremity DVTs at the time of hospi-talization or during hospitalization were studied. The mean±SD age of the patients was 57.1±19.2 years (range:12-98 years). Of these, 114 (55.9%) were men and 90 (44.1%) were women. There were 174 patients in UPG, 16 inBPG, 5 in UDG and 9 in IPDG. In total, 97.5% of the patients had proximal thrombosis while only 6.9% of themhad distal thrombosis. The incidence of different limb circumferences was significantly higher in UPG and IPDGcompared to BPG and UDG (P<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between groups in termsof other symptoms and risk factors.

Most of the DVTs were found in the proximal veins of the lowerextremities. It seems that these DVTs are more likely to create edema compared to others and in unilateral casesmay result in different circumferences of the lower limbs. But there was no significant association between otherclinical signs of DVT including limb pain, edema, erythema, palpitations, and shortness of breath with throm-bosis location. Also not significant association between DVT risk factors and the location of thrombosis werefound.

Tracheobronchopathia Osteochondroplastica (TBPO) is a rare disease with a benign period affecting the bronchial system. It is characterized by the presence of numerous osseous submucosal nodules or cartilaginous protruding into the tracheobronchial lumen. These wounds are diagnosed incidentally during bronchoscopy. We reported the stages of diagnosis and treatment of a 46-year-old patient with TBPO and concurrent chronic eosinophilic pneumonia.

A 46-year-old non-smoking Afghan male exposed to adhesives and chemicals in Iran for more than 25 years was admitted to a pulmonary ward with symptoms of exertional dyspnea, dry coughing, occasional nocturnal sweating for 6 years, tachycardia, hypoxia, and generalized wheezing during expiration. A symbicort inhaler and Montelukast pills were prescribed for him with the probable diagnosis of asthma. High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) was performed on the patient and the results showed non-significant multiple lymph nodes with maximum diameters (SAD = 7 mm). HRCT also showed that the patient had protuberances on the trachea surface and thus underwent bronchoscopy for further examination. The results indicated numerous protuberances of white cartilage from the proximal part of the trachea to the distal part without the involvement of the posterior membrane. The biopsy result confirmed TBPO. Prednisolone was prescribed for the patient to treat the chronic eosinophilic pneumonia. However, we had to continue the daily dose of 5mg prednisolone due to the recurrence of the symptoms.

The lack of response to a bronchodilator in a patient suspicious to asthma must make us think about other causes of respiratory wheezing such as TBPO.

COVID-19 is a novel infectious disease, which has challenged people all around the world. As of today, healthcarepractitioners and researchers have made great effort to understand the characteristics and clinical presentationsof the disease; however, the existing literature is still incomplete in this regard. A growing body of evidence in-dicates that coagulopathies and thromboembolic events are of utmost importance in COVID-19 patients andare related to poor prognosis. Here, we report three ICU admitted cases of COVID-19, in which massive pul-monary thromboembolism (PTE) occurred a few days after disease onset. Unfortunately, one of the patients didnot survive and two were treated; one with thrombectomy and other with antithrombotic agents. It seems thatsevere cases of COVID-19 are at risk for developing PTE and in-charge physicians should be prepared and planfor anticoagulant prophylaxis using low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH).

Since the novel coronavirus emerged in late December, 2019 in Wuhan, China, millions of people have beeninfected and thousands of patients have died. Fever and dyspnea are the most common symptoms of infectionwith SARS-CoV-2. However, these symptoms are neither specific nor diagnostic for COVID-19. Symptom overlapbetween COVID-19 and some other conditions may lead other diseases to be missed and underdiagnosed. Justlike COVID-19, pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) and pulmonary infarction may present with fever and res-piratory symptoms. Since COVID-19 emerged and spread worldwide, many clinicians are focused on diagnosisand treatment of this novel viral infection. Hence, other diseases presenting with the same symptoms as COVID-19 may remain underdiagnosed. Here, we report three cases of PTE and pulmonary infarction presenting withfever and respiratory symptoms mimicking COVID-19

Determination of good diagnostic tools is an issue of importance specially to differentiate between sepsis etiologies and improvement of prognosis. Hence our purpose was to determine the finding of the peripheral blood smear(PBS)in patients with suspected of sepsis and its association with the final diagnosis in the year 1396. In this cross-sectional comparative survey, 348 consecutive patients with suspected ofsepsis admitted in emergency department of Shohaday-e-Tajrish Hospital were enrolled and the association of finding of the peripheral blood smear in patients with the final diagnosis in the year 1396 were determined. The results in this study demonstrated that pneumonia and urinary tract infectionwere seen in 29% and 18.1%. Thrombocytopenia (p=0.000), thrombocytosis (p=0.032), and abnormal morphology (p=0.049) were related to final diagnosis. Totally, according to the obtained resultsit may be concluded that platelet count and PBS morphology are important related factors for sepsis

Computed Tomography-Pulmonary Angiography (CTPA) is a noninvasive imaging modality for direct diagnosis of pulmonary thromboembolism. The potential advantage of CTPA is possible alternative and incidental findings in cases that PTE is ruled out. This study was performed to determine the prevalence of incidental findings in CTPA in patients suspected to have PTE.

This cross-sectional retrospective study was performed in patients with suspected PTE admitted to Shohada-e-Tajrish Hospital in 2014 and 2015 and underwent CTPA for final diagnosis. Incidental findings in CTPA and associated clinical symptoms were assessed.

According to CTPA performed in 188 patients, PTE was diagnosed in 61 cases (32.4%). Prevalence of incidental abnormal findings in the two groups with and without PTE were 93.7% and 90.9%, respectively. The most common incidental finding was pleural effusion (42%). There was no significant association between clinical symptoms and incidental findings in CTPA in patients with suspected pulmonary embolism (P > 0.05). The only significant finding was association between lung mass and tachypnea (P=0.007).

In patients with primary clinical symptoms of suspected pulmonary embolism, in most cases there was a wide range of incidental findings and simultaneous pathologies in CTPA mimicking the primary symptoms of pulmonary embolism. However, in this study there was no significant association between clinical symptoms and incidental findings. Determination of definite indications of CTPA in patients with suspected pulmonary embolism is necessary

Recognition of risk factors in different high-risk groups such as smokers in comparison with non-high risk groups would help to develop good preventive strategies for pulmonary thromboemboli (PTE). The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare clinical findings and risk factors in smoker and nonsmoker patients with pulmonary thromboembolism and assessing anatomical variant in pulmonary computerized tomography angiographies.

In this descriptive study 260 consecutive patients suspected to have PTE underwent pulmonary computerized tomography angiographies in a training hospital since 2015 to 2018. Patient with documented PTE were enrolled. Clinical finding and risk factors were determined and compared between them.

From 260 patients 172 subjects (66.15%) had PTE and enrolled in the study. Fifty-six (32%) were smoker and 116 (68%) non-smoker. The smoker group was younger and male gender was more predominant. Oxygen saturation and inspired oxygen partial pressure differed between smokers and non-smokers (P < 0.05). The predisposing factors of thromboembolism and anatomic distribution of emboli were the same in smokers and non-smokers.

Regarding different factors responsible for PTE in smokers and non-smokers, clinical presentation and anatomic distribution of PTE are comparable.

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a potentially life threatening disease, accurate and timely diagnosis of which is still a challenge that physicians face. This study was designed with the aim of evaluating the relationship between thrombosis risk factors, clinical symptoms, and laboratory findings with the presence or absence of PE. The present retrospective cross-sectional study was performed on patients with suspected pulmonary embolism who were hospitalized in different departments of Shohadaye Tajrish Hospital, Tehran, Iran, during 1 year. All patients underwent computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) and then thrombosis risk factors, clinical symptoms, and laboratory findings of confirmed PE cases with CTPA were compared with others. 188 patients with the mean age of 61.91 ± 18.25 (20 – 101) years were studied (54.8% male). Based on Wells' score, 32 (17.2%) patients were in the low risk group, 145 (78.0%) were in the moderate risk group, and 9 (4.8%) patients were classified in the high risk group for developing PE. CTPA findings confirmed PE diagnosis for 60 (31.7%) patients (6.7% high risk, 75.0% moderate risk, 18.3% low risk). D-dimer test was only ordered for 27 patients, 25 (92.6%) of which were positive. Among the patients with positive D-dimer, 18 (72.0%) cases had negative CTPA. Inactivity (57.4%), hypertension (32.8%), and history of cancer (29.5%) were the most common risk factors of thrombosis in patients with PE. In addition, shortness of breath (60.1%) and tachypnea (11.1%) were the most common clinical findings among patients with PE. There was no significant difference between the patients with PE diagnosis and others regarding mean age (p = 0.560), sex distribution (p = 0.438), and type of thrombosis risk factors (p > 0.05), hospitalization department (p = 0.757), Wells’ score (p = 0.665), electrocardiography findings, or blood gas analyses. Although attention to thrombosis risk factors, clinical symptoms, and laboratory findings, can be helpful in screening patients with suspected PE, considering the ability of CT scan in confirming or ruling out other possible differential diagnoses, it seems that a revision should be done to lower the threshold of ordering this diagnostic modality for suspected cases.

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is one of the most common hospital infections and a side effect of lengthy stay in intensive care unit (ICU). Considering the ever-changing pattern of common pathogens in infectious diseases and the raise in prevalence of hospital infections, the present study was designed aiming to determine the prevalence of VAP and its bacterial causes.

In this cross-sectional study, the medical profiles of all the patients under mechanical ventilation, who had no symptoms of pneumonia at the time of intubation and developed new infiltration in chest radiography after 48 hours under mechanical ventilation along with at least 2 of the symptoms including fever, hypothermia, leukocytosis, leukopenia, or purulent discharge from the lungs, were evaluated. Demographic data, clinical and laboratory findings, and final outcome of the patients were extracted from the patient’s clinical profile and reported using SPSS version 20 and descriptive statistics.

518 patients with the mean age of 62.3 § 20.8 years were evaluated (50.9% female). Mean time interval between intubation and showing symptoms was 10.89 § 12.27 days. Purulent discharges (100%), leukocytosis (71.9%), fever (49.1%), hypothermia (12.3%), and leukopenia (8.8%) were the most common clinical and laboratory symptoms and acinetobacter baumannii (31.58%) and klebsiella pneumoniae (29.82%) were the most common germs growing in sputum cultures. 19 (33.3%) cases of pan drug resistance (PDR) and 10 (17.5%) cases of extensive drug resistance (XDR) were seen. Mortality due to VAP was 78.9% and there was no significant correlation between age (p = 0.841), sex (p = 0.473), ICU admission (p = 0.777), duration of hospitalization (p = 0.254), leukocytosis (p = 0.790), leukopenia (p = 0.952), fever (p = 0.171), hypothermia (p = 0.639), type of culture (p = 0.282), and type of antibiotic resistance (p = 0.066) with mortality.

Prevalence of VAP and its associated mortality were 11% and 78.9%, respectively. The most common symptoms and signs were purulent discharge, leukocytosis, and fever. Acinetobacter baumannii and klebsiella pneumoniae were the most common germs in sputum cultures with 50% resistance to commonly used antibiotics.

Nocturnal hypoxia is an important factor in increasing the risk of mortality in patients with chronic heart failure and is associated with atrial and ventricular arrhythmias. In addition, QT dispersion (QTd) is used as a prognostic sign in determining future malignant arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. In the current study, we investigated the effect of nocturnal oxygen therapy (NOT) on electrocardiographic changes among patients with chronic heart failure.
Patients and In this study, a consecutive of 154 patients (87 males and 67 females) known with chronic heart failure (EF≤40%) were enrolled. The patients were administered NOT (oxygen flow of 2 L/min for 8 hours during sleeping). Electrocardiography was taken before and after the NOT, and RR interval, PR interval and QTd were measured each time.
The mean age of the participants was 61.3 ± 11.4 years. Our results revealed significant reduction in QTd (55.8 ± 7.5 vs. 61.4± 9.1 msec, P = 0.001) and heart rate (79.6 ± 4.7 vs. 76.8 ± 4.3, P = 0.001) in a patient’s electrocardiogram after NOT.
In this study, NOT decreased heart rate and QTd in patients with chronic heart failure, but not PR interval, which could consequently decrease the risk of malignant arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death.