Prosenjit Roy1, Angelia Lalsiemlawm Khawbung2, Ubedul Islam3, Swaroop Kumar Baruah4
BACKGROUND
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a global issue with smoking being
the most important risk factor. Co-existence of both COPD and cardiovascular
diseases is very common and has diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic
implications. The cardiac manifestations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
are numerous. COPD affects pulmonary blood vessels, right ventricle as well as
left ventricle leading to the development of pulmonary hypertension, cor
pulmonale, right ventricular dysfunction and left ventricular dysfunction. Because
cardiac abnormalities clearly contribute to overall morbidity of COPD, an
understanding of their role and potential for treatment is vital. The purpose of this
study was to evaluate various cardiac manifestations in chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease patients and to observe correlation with its severity.
METHODS
This hospital based observational study was done in Gauhati Medical College and
Hospital attending in-patient department (IPD) and out-patient department (OPD)
of Department of General Medicine from 1st July 2018 to 30th June 2019. A total
of 140 patients were included in this study.
RESULTS
Majority of the patients were in the age group of 60 - 70 years. Cardiovascular
manifestations were most commonly observed in very severe stage of COPD
(GOLD IV). Overall, 91 patients had ECG changes. The most common ECG findings
were P pulmonale and right ventricular hypertrophy (RVH). Pulmonary arterial
hypertension (PAH) and tricuspid regurgitation (TR) were common
echocardiography findings.
CONCLUSIONS
Cardiac manifestations were more prevalent in COPD GOLD III and IV stages and
therefore with increasing severity of COPD, occurrence and severity of cardiac
complications becomes more prevalent. ECG and echocardiography are essential
investigational tools for diagnosing COPD patients with cardiac complications and
assessing their severity. However, a prospective study including a larger sample
size is required to arrive at a definite conclusion.
