Cardiovascular diseases in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients: A cross sectional study

Abstract

Background: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, often accompanied by cardiovascular complications. This study evaluates cardiovascular manifestations in COPD patients and various risk factors for better outcome. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital in Maharashtra over 18 months. 100 COPD patients were assessed using history, clinical examination, electrocardiography (ECG), and echocardiography (ECHO). The presence of various cardiovascular manifestations and the associated risk factors were analysed. Results: The mean age of participants was 67.18 ± 9.38 years, with a male-to-female ratio of 44:56. Out of the total patients, 67% had a history of tobacco use, and 50% had biomass exposure. Hypertension (38%) was the most common comorbidity, followed by diabetes (5%). ECG findings revealed P-pulmonale (21%), ventricular premature contractions (12%), and atrial fibrillation (4%). ECHO findings showed Cor-pulmonale (33%), left ventricular hypertrophy (17%), and pulmonary arterial hypertension (9%). A significant association was found between cardiovascular manifestations and risk factors like tobacco use, type of respiratory failure, use of theophylline medications, and biomass exposure. Conclusion: COPD patients exhibit a high prevalence of cardiovascular abnormalities and severity of cardiovascular diseases increases with severity of COPD. With our study we emphasize on regular cardiovascular screening as it can improve patient outcome and will also reduce morbidity and mortality in COPD patients.

Keywords: COPD, Cardiovascular diseases, Cor-pulmonale, Arrhythmia, Pulmonary Hypertension.