Patterns and outcomes of cardiovascular disease admissions in the medical wards of the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt, Nigeria: A two-year review.

Background: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are widespread and significantly contribute to global mortality with a rising prevalence in developing countries. The aim of this study was to identify the pattern and outcome of admissions related to cardiovascular diseases within the medical wards at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital.

Methodology: The study was a retrospective cross-sectional hospital-based study. The records of all patients admitted into the medical wards from January 2021 to December 2022 were extracted to include information on biodata, admitting diagnosis, duration of admission, and patients' outcomes.

Results: Over this 2-year period, a total of 1,540 patients were admitted into the wards and751(48.8%) persons were admitted for CVDs with a mean age of 59.6±15. 1years.The commonest cardiovascular diseases documented included heart failure (HF) and cerebrovascular accident (CVA) which occurred in 251(33.4%) and 311(41.1%) patients respectively. Other CVDs recorded were hypertensive crisis in 163(21.7%), acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in 12(1.6%) and pulmonary embolism (PE) in 6(0.8%) patients. During the study period, 311 deaths were recorded representing 20.2% of all admissions with 146(46.6%) hospital deaths attributed to CVDs, accounting for 19.4% of the total cardiovascular admissions with 125 of these deaths occurring in patients with CVA and HF.

Conclusion: Heart failure and Cerebrovascular accidents emerged as significant contributors to the morbidity and mortality of patients on admission in Rivers State. Policies to incorporate appropriate, preventive and management strategies in the community to reflect this distribution are essential to significantly reduce cardiovascular deaths in our population.