Patient and clinical details
Patient gender was almost evenly dispersed; 51% (n=77) of patients were male. The mean age was 71±12.4 years (median 73; 27-96). Electrical cardioversion was performed in the ED on 92 patients (61%) and the cardiology department on 59 (39%). Most patients’ chief complaints were similar between the groups. However, “shortness of breath” was more common in patients cardioverted in the cardiology department (p=0.012). Also, “discovering AF as an incidental finding on a routine ECG” was experienced by seven (8%) ED patients as opposed to no cardiology department patients (p=0.043). Demographic details and chief complaints of the cohort comparing those who were cardioverted in the ED versus those converted in the cardiology department are described in Table 1.
Clinical details between the groups were also similar. Vital signs showed no significant differences except for heart rate, which was a mean nine beats per minute higher in those patients cardioverted on the cardiology ward as opposed to those treated in the ED (p=0.044). Past medical history, as well as lab results, showed no differences between the groups. Troponin is described as “positive” or “negative” rather than as a numerical value since the hospital utilized different methods of troponin measurement during the study period. The term “negative” denotes a negative troponin value for the employed sensitivity test. The highest troponin observed in the entire cohort was a troponin T of 130 ng/L. This patient was successfully cardioverted in the cardiology department with no adverse effects. (Table 1)