ATRIAL FIBRILLATION IN MITRAL STENOSIS an‎d ITS CORRELATION WITH LEFT ATRIAL SIZE, MITRAL VALVE AREA an‎d LEFT ATRIAL THROMBUS

Chronic rheumatic heart disease is the commonest cause of mitral stenosis. Incidence of rheumatic MS parallels that of acute rheumatic fever. Atrial fibrillation usually develops in the presence of pre-existing ECG evidence of left atrial enlargement and is related to the size of the chamber, the extent of fibrosis of the left atrial myocardium, the duration of the atriomegaly and the age of the patient. The tendency for development of systemic embolization correlates directly with the patient’s age and the size of the left atrial appendages and inversely with the cardiac output. Eighty percent of the patients of MS in whom systemic emboli develop are in atrial fibrillation. A descriptive study was designed in the Department of Medicine, K E Medical College / Mayo Hospital and Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Lahore. A total of 129 conservative cases of mitral stenosis were included in this study, based upon convenient patient sampling. A total of 112 patients were followed up properly, the remaining 17 were lost to follow. The results showed left atrial size and MVA have an inverse correlation (p = 0.017). LAT has a strong association with AF in cases of MS (p = 0.002). The severity of MS does not influence the frequency of AF (p = 0.24). It was thus concluded that left atrial size and MVA have an inverse correlation (p = 0.017). LAT has a strong association with AF in cases of MS (p = 0.002). The severity of MS does not influence the frequency of AF (p = 0.24)