Incidence and Characteristics of Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation in Sudanese Patients Undergoing Heart Valve Surgery: A Descriptive Retrospective Study

Introduction: Postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is one of most common complications in the hospital setting after cardiac surgery in general and valve surgery in particular. The incidence estimates POAF after valve surgery has been described to be as high as 50%. However, no study has done to assess the incidence of POAF it in Sudanese population. Thus, this study aimed to assess the incidence and risk factors of POAF in Sudanese patients undergoing heart valve surgery.

Methods: A descriptive retrospective hospital-based study was conducted at two governmental hospitals (Alshaab Teaching Hospital and Ahmed Gasim Cardiac Surgery and Renal transplantation Centre), Khartoum, Sudan. All patients undergoing valve surgery between Jan 2017 and March 2019 were included and reviewed, and checklist was used to collect data, then descriptive and inferential statistics were analyzed using SPSS.

Results: POAF incidence in patients undergoing valve surgery was 39.9% (164/411). The majority of them (56.1%), were females, and the highest population (47.6%) were aged 41-60 years. Mitral valve surgery was the most frequent (61%) site of valve surgery. Moreover, among the independent variables, age, and the site of valve surgery were statistically significant (P-value ˂ 0.05) associated with POAF development. Bisoprolol was the most frequently used medication to manage POAF. Heart failure was the most frequent complication of POAF (29.3%) followed by death (25.6%).

Conclusion: The incidence of POAF is 39.9%. Age and the site of valve surgery were significantly associated with POAF in patients undergoing heart valve surgery. Moreover, prevention and treatment against POAF were suboptimal.