Open Access Journal │www.njcmindia.org pISSN 0976 3325│eISSN 2229 6816 National Journal of Community Medicine│Volume 6│Issue 4│Oct – Dec 2015 Page 571 ORIGINAL ARTICLE pISSN 0976 3325│eISSN 2229 6816 Open Access Article www.njcmindia.org ELECTROCARDIOGRAPHIC AND ECHOCARDIOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF DILATED CARDIOMYOPATHY PATIENTS ATTENDING TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL IN VADODARA Himanshu M Rana 1 , Parag Chavda 2 , Chirag C Rathod 3 , Meera Mavani 4 Financial Support: None declared Conflict of interest: None declared Copy right: The Journal retains the copyrights of this article. However, reproduction is permissible with due acknowledgement of the source. How to cite this article: Rana HM, Chavda P, Rathod CC, Mavani M. Electrocardiographic and Echocardiographic profile of Dilated Cardiomyopathy patients attending tertiary care hospital in Vadodara. Ntl J of Community Med 2015; 6(4):571-574. Author’s Affiliation: 1 Associate Professor, Department of Medicine; 2 Assistant Professor, De- partment of Community, Medicine; 3 Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine; 4 Junior Resident, De- partment of Medicine, GMERS Medical College, Gotri, Vadodara Correspondence: Dr. Himanshu M Rana drhimanshurana@yahoo.com Date of Submission: 22-08-15 Date of Acceptance: 20-10-15 Date of Publication: 31-12-15 ABSTRACT Background: Dilated cardiomyopathy is one of the important causes of congestive heart failure and attributes to 25% of all cases of CHF. Moreover, in majority of cases with DCM, no specific etiology is known. The increasing incidence of DCM is also associated with sig- nificant morbidity and mortality. So, the current study aimed at un- derstanding the electrocardiographic and echocardiographic profile of DCM patients coming to tertiary care hospital in Vadodara. Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted among 180 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy from the year 2011 to 2014. ECG and 2D Echocardiography was done among all these patients using standard techniques. The data entry and analysis was done in Microsoft excel sheet. Results: Among the 180 study participants having DCM, almost all patients showed changes in ECG and 2D Echocardiography. The most common ECG changes observed were ST-T changes (93.8%) followed by sinus tachycardia (63.3%). The most common 2D Echo findings observed were left ventricular diastolic dimension > 5.2cm (93%) followed by left ventricular systolic dimension >3.9cm (91%) and reduced left ventricular contractility (85%). Conclusion: Regular echochardiographic and electrocardiographic screening of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy is very important to identify and prevent complications among them. Key words: Dilated Cardiomyopathy, Electrocardiographic profile, Echocardiographic profile, Arrhythmias, Tertiary care center INTRODUCTION Cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart muscle that leads to deterioration of myocardial function- ing. 1 According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and American Heart Association (AHA), cardiomyopathy is categorized as dilated cardio- myopathy (DCM), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM), obliter- ative cardiomyopathy (OCM) and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC). 2-3 Out of all these, DCM is the most common form compris- ing over 90% of all cases causing sudden cardiac death. 4 The natural history of DCM is still not well established. Many patients have either minimal or no symptoms and the progression of the disease is also unpredictable and the long term prognosis is not good. However, DCM is considered to be an important cause of heart failure and accounts for up to 25% of all cases of CHF. 5 The Framingham study