Document Type : Original article

Authors

• Maryam Hami ¹
• Mehrdad Sarabi ²
• Mehdi Hassanzade Daloee ³
• Hassan Mehrad-Majd ⁴
• Abdollah Firoozi ⁵
• Niloofar Nourizadeh ⁶
• Niloofar Nikpasand ²
• Sara Naghizadeh Kashani ⁷
• Mina AkbariRad ¹

¹ Associate professor of internal medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

² Medical Doctor, Student Research Committee, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

³ Professor of cardiology department, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

⁴ Assistant professor of molecular medicine, Clinical Research Development Unit, Ghaem Hospital, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

⁵ Pharm. D, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

⁶ Resident of cardiology department, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

⁷ Medical Doctor, Research Assistant, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, USA..

Abstract

Background and aim: Cardiac arrhythmia is common in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients, especially those undergoing hemodialysis. One of the most significant risk factors for cardiac arrhythmias is thought to be electrolytic abnormalities. This study aimed to assess the effect of hemodialysis on cardiac arrhythmias according to electrolytic disorders in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients.
Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on ESRD patients who had undergone hemodialysis for at least six months. An electrocardiogram (ECG) and serum levels of sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium were checked before and after hemodialysis for all the patients. The data were entered and analyzed using SPSS software.
Results: In this study, 96 patients were included. The most common arrhythmia was atrial fibrillation (AF) (22.9%). Our findings revealed that changes in serum potassium levels (p = 0.036) had a significant relationship with the occurrence of AF. There was a significant negative relationship between changes in serum calcium level and the QTc interval (r = -0.223 and p = 0.023). Furthermore, there was a significant positive relationship between changes in serum calcium levels and the QRS complex amplitude (r = 0.350 and p = 0.0001).
Conclusion: ECG abnormalities, especially AF arrhythmias, are common in patients undergoing hemodialysis, which highlights the need for ECG monitoring both during and after hemodialysis.

Keywords

• Cardiac arrhythmia
• hemodialysis
• ECG abnormality