• Wael A Alqarawi and Abdulrahman S Alarifi.
• From the Department of Cardiac Sciences (Alqarawi), College of Medicine, King Saud University, and from the Department of Internal Medicine (Alarifi), King Abdullah University Hospital, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• Saudi Med J. 2024 Oct 1; 45 (10): 109410981094-1098.

ObjectivesTo report and describe the characteristics and outcomes of patients with advanced atrioventricular block (AVB) in Saudi Arabia.MethodsWe included consecutive patients who underwent pacemaker implantation at King Khaled University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for advanced AVB, which was defined as second degree type 2 AVB, third degree AVB, and symptomatic atrial fibrillation with slow ventricular response. The variable "young patient" was defined as age of 60 or less, based on guidelines recommending cardiac sarcoidosis (CS) evaluation at this age or younger.ResultsAmong 100 patients (median age: 71 males, 51%), 29 (29%) were young patients. Most patients had at least one comorbidity including hypertension, diabetes, or dyslipidemia (81%). Young patients constituted 26.6% (n=21/79) of idiopathic AVB cases and only 23.8% (n=8/21) underwent CS evaluation (8/21).ConclusionA significant proportion of AVB occurs in young patients. Yet, CS is often not ruled out. Future studies should define the yield of CS evaluation in the Saudi population when international consensus documents are followed.Copyright: © Saudi Medical Journal.

31 keywords...

hide…