PREVALENCE OF CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE IN PATIENTS WITH VALVULAR HEART DISEASE

BACKGROUND Heart disease is a growing problem, particularly in developing countries. India has quoted to have 12.2% and 12% prevalence of coronary artery disease and rheumatic valvular heart disease respectively. Some older reports suggest that rheumatic fever, in addition to producing specific injuries to small coronary arterial branches may accelerate the development of coronary atherosclerosis. AIM To assess the prevalence of Coronary Artery disease in patients with Valvular Heart disease in some selected hospitals of Guwahati, Assam. SETTING AND DESIGN It was conducted in Gauhati Medical College and Hospital and Hayat Hospital, Guwahati. Explorative approach, survey design was selected for the study. MATERIALS AND METHODS Purposive sampling technique was used to select 126 patients who were diagnosed with valvular heart disease. Data was collected through a self-structured interview scheduled on prevalence of coronary artery disease. RESULTS Of the total 126 patients of valvular heart disease, 108 (85.71%) cases were rheumatic valvular heart disease and 18 (14.29%) were non-rheumatic valvular heart disease. Majority (56.34%) of cases with CAD and RHD were in the range of 45 to 54 years. The prevalence of typical angina was significantly high among men (41.18%). Most of the rheumatic patients (72.22%) did not complain about angina. Diabetes mellitus, hypertension and dyslipidaemia are significantly high among non-rheumatic group and Coronary artery disease group. In our study, the overall prevalence of significant coronary artery disease in patients with valvular heart disease was 14.28%. CONCLUSION Coronary artery disease prevalence is very high in this part of the country. Health professionals should actively participate in health promotion activities, apply the findings of the study to identify high risk individuals and prevent the occurrence of coronary artery disease.