Cardiac arrhythmias in patients with bronchial asthma

Abstract

Introduction. According to modern data, bronchial asthma (BA) is an independent risk factor for the development of cardiac arrhythmias (CA), and the use of long-acting β2-agonists (LABA) in basic therapy may further increase the risks of CA.Aim. To study the structure and risk factors of cardiac arrhythmias in patients with bronchial asthma. Materials and methods. A retrospective study included 181 patients aged 69.4 ± 0.8 years, hospitalized for asthma, with the presence a CA in medical documentation.Results. Among BA patients with CA, supraventricular CA were found in 71.3% (129) patients, ventricular CA in 16.6% (30), combined CA in 12.2% (22). In 52.5% (95) patients, supraventricular extrasystole was detected, in 35.9% (65) – atrial fibrillation, in 28.7% (52) – ventricular extrasystole, in 1.1% (2) – paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia, in 0.6% (1) – paroxysmal ventricular tachycardia. It was found that supraventricular CA was significantly more frequent among women (χ2 = 5.974, p = 0.05). The severity of BA and the level of control are not related to the type of observed CA (χ2 = 0.755, p = 0.685 and χ2 = 3.003, p = 0.557, respectively).Discussion. The use of a combination of ICS and LABA in basic BA therapy versus the use of ICS alone does not have a significant effect on the frequency and structure of cardiac arrhythmias (χ2 = 1.172, p = 0.556).Conclusion. In hospitalized BA patients, supraventricular cardiac arrhythmias are most often detected, among which supraventricular extrasystole and atrial fibrillation take the main place.