Association of Atrial Fibrillation with Age, Gender, Hypertension, and Diabetes Mellitus in Cases of Ischemic Stroke

Objective: To determine the frequency of atrial fibrillation in patients presenting with ischemic stroke and explore association of atrial fibrillation with age, gender, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension. Study Design: Cross-sectional analytical study Place and Duration of Study: Department of Internal Medicine, Pak-Emirates Military Hospital, Rawalpindi Pakistan, from Jan to Sep 2018. Methodology: All patients diagnosed with ischemic strokes as per the World Health Organization guidelines presenting to the department were included. Information was gathered regarding age, gender, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus and electrocardiogram was recorded for each patient within 24 hours of presentation to check for atrial fibrillation. Computed tomographic scans of the sampled individuals were evaluated to exclude patients with intracerebral bleed, sub-arachnoid hemorrhage or brain tumors. Results: Ninety-five patients (mean age: 46.8±15.5 years) with ischemic stroke were included. Sixty (63.2%) patients were male and 35(36.8%) were female. Atrial fibrillation was present in 35(36.8%) patients. It was significantly more common in patients with diabetes and patients with hypertension (p=0.001 and p=0.004 respectively). No significant association of atrial fibrillation with gender or age of the patient was observed (p=0.086 and p=0.057 respectively) Conclusion: Atrial fibrillation was quite high in our sampled patients with ischemic stroke. The frequency was more common in patients with diabetes and patients with hypertension.