PREVALENCE OF CAD IN FEMALES WITH HYPERTENSION AND DIABETES MILLITUS PRESENTING WITH CHEST

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) in hypertensive and diabetic
Pakistani female population admitted to cardiac ward in a tertiary care cardiac hospital (AFIC-NIHD)
Rawalpindi) with chest pain suspected of cardiac origin.
Design: Prospective observational study.
Place of study: Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology-NIHD Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Patients and methods: We studied 100 consecutive female patients admitted from Jan 2005 onwards, to
cardiac female ward of AFIC with chest pain suspected of cardiac origin and then undergoing diagnostic
coronary angiography The patient population included cases admitted directly from emergency reception,
from OPD and those admitted to CCU but kept in ward due to non availability of beds in CCU. We recorded
the ages, blood pressures, blood sugar levels and angiographic findings.
Results:
100 female patients were studied with a mean age of 56 years (range 33-76 years). Out of these 100 patients, 8
(8%) had only diabetes mellitus, 39 (39%) had only hypertension and 27(27%) patients had combined
diabetes mellitus and hypertension while 26 patients (26%) did not have any of these risk factors. Coronary
angiogram revealed that 28% patients had normal coronary arteries while 72 % had coronary artery disease
(CAD). In our study out of 72 patients who had angiographically proven CAD 4 pt's (5.5%) were between 30
and 40 year of age, 11 (15%) between 41 and 50 years, 25(35%) between 51 and 60 years, 24(33%) between
61 and 70 years and another 8 pt's (1. 1 %) were over 70 years of age. All 8 diabetics (100%) had CAD while
26 out of 39 hypertensives (67%) had CAD. Out of 27 patients who had both DM and HTN, 23 (85%) had
angiographically proven CAD. Out of 26 patients who neither had DM nor HTN, 15 (58%) still had CAD.
Conclusion:
We conclude that increasing age along with hypertension and diabetes mellitus are the most significant risk
factors for CAD in Pakistani females.