Pattern of Arrhythmia among Diabetes Mellitus Patients in South-South, Nigeria: 24-Hour Ambulatory ECG (Holter ECG) Study

Background: Diabetes is known to be an independent risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, commonly associated with rhythm disorders like atrial fibrillation (AF) and ventricular arrhythmias (VA), Diabetes Mellitus (DM) patients have silent myocardial infarctions (MI) with conduction abnormalities like ectopics and others. Regular 12 lead ECGs may not capture subtle conduction abnormalities unlike Holter ECGs which takes longer time to record heart rhythms. The study aims to determine the occurrence and pattern of cardiac arrhythmias in Diabetes Mellitus.

Methods: A total of 33 diabetic subjects with age ranged from 18 years and above presented to Goodheart Medical Consultants hospital for 24-hour ambulatory ECG (Holter ECG) using Schiller type (MT-101) Holter ECG machine.

Results: In this study, the population consisted of 54.5% men and 45.5% women with a mean age of 63.4 ±14.41, the most common age group was 61–80 years with 42.4%. The two most common forms of arrhythmias for Holter ECGs in this study were supraventricular ectopics 36.4% and ventricular ectopics 33.3%.

Conclusion: Supraventricular ectopics is the most common arrhythmia observed among the diabetic subjects in Southern Nigeria and was notably observed more in diabetic male subjects than females. This arrhythmia exposes them to risk of stroke and mortality. Diabetes-related arrhythmias may be a sign of other underlying illnesses.