Pattern of cardiovascular admission diagnoses during the month of Ramadan: a single center experience

Abstract Background Fasting Ramadan has been linked to favorable health profile, yet some unhealthy behaviors were shown to affect the progression of cardiovascular diseases during the holy month. Purpose To detect the prevalent diagnoses of cardiovascular admissions during the month of Ramadan and to compare them to the admission diagnoses during the rest of the year. Methods This retrospective observational study included all patients who were admitted to the Cardiology department and the Coronary Care Unit from April 2019 to May 2022, with 4 Ramadan months included. The median number of specific cardiac admission diagnoses during Ramadan months were compared to the median number of similar admission diagnoses during the other months of the year. Results The number of patients admitted during the 4 year-study period were 8170 patients, 14.6% of them (n = 1194 patients) were admitted during the 4 Ramadan months. All cardiovascular diagnoses were comparable during Ramadan admissions as compared to the rest of the year, Table. There was a trend towards higher cardiovascular admission rates during Ramadan in almost all diagnoses except for unstable angina, infective endocarditis and pericardial diseases. Conclusions The pattern of specific cardiovascular disease admission during Ramadan was not different from the pattern of admission during the rest of the year. Yet, there were numerically higher cardiovascular admissions during the 4 Ramadan months. Table Comparison of the median number of admission diagnoses in the 4 Ramadan months and the monthly average of the 4 years Ramadan months Median (range) Monthly average of the 4 years Median (range) P value IHD 145.5 (63) 106 (74) 0.486 * CCS 39.5 (35) 17 (11) 0.057 * ACS 107.5 (71) 89 (83) 0.686 - STEMI 49.5 (34) 39 (24) 0.343 - NSTEMI 41 (46) 39.5 (56) 1.0 - UA 8.5 (8) 10 (4) 0.686 ADHF & cardiogenic shock 113.5 (111) 56 (37) 0.486 Arrhythmia 43.5 (39) 34 (10) 0.343 - AF 18.5 (22) 22.5 (5) 0.686 - SVT 9.5 (15) 6 (9) 0.486 - AFL 6 (12) 2.5 (2) 0.2 - CHB 4 (5) 3.5 (3) 0.686 IE 10.5 (7) 14 (6) 0.2 PE 3 (11) 2.5 (1) 0.686 Pericardial disease 2 (6) 6 (11) 0.2 Hypertensive urgency & emergency 12 (23) 9.5 (7) 1.0 IHD, ischemic heart disease; CCS, chronic coronary syndrome; ACS, acute coronary syndrome; STEMI, ST elevation myocardial infarction; NSTEMI, non-ST elevation myocardial infarction; UA, unstable angina; ADHF, acute decompensated heart failure; AF, atrial fibrillation; SVT, supraventricular tachycardia; AFL, atrial flutter; CHD, complete heart block; IE, infective endocarditis; PE, pulmonary embolism. Additional Content An author video to accompany this abstract is available on https://academic.oup.com/eurheartjsupp. Please click on the arrow next to ‘More Content’ and then click on ‘Author videos’.