Risk factors for heart failure in adult Nigerians

Objectives - Heart failure (HF) is a lethal disorder most common in blacks. Available treatment options have little impact on prognosis, making primary prevention a priority.We aimed to describe the spectrum of established HF risk factors and clinical features in Nigerian adults. Methods - We recruited consecutive adults with HF diagnosed using the Framingham criteria in a Teaching Hospital, and recorded clinical findings with a structured form. Blood was drawn for haernatocrit, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and serum cholesterol. Results - 102 subjects were studied. Common HF risk factors were hypertension 45 (44%), obesity 26 (25%), alcohol intake 25 (24%) and hypercholesterolaemia 22 (2 1 %). Both tachycardia (OR 5.5,95%Cl 1.7-14.9) and S-3 gallop (OR 4.05,95%Cl 1.53-10.76) were significantly related with NYHA class IV HF. BMI was strongly related with total serum cholesterol (r = 0.70, P < 0.00 1). Low ESR (< 5 mm/h) was protective of NYHA class IV HF (OR 0.40,95%Cl 0. 16-0.88). Conclusion - Hypertension, obesity, alcohol intake and hypercholesterolaemia were common in blacks with HF, Both S-3 gallop and high ESR indicated more severe HF.