After following up on 200 patients of whom (73.5%) were male and (26.5%) were female of mean age 57.5 ∓ (12.1), among them (34%) fasted successfully during Ramadan in April 2021, while (9%) could not continue to fast, the remaining (50%) had decided that they will not fast and (7%) had passed away on follow up with undisclosed causes. The factors that are known to be common risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, as well as the patients’ presentation after their admission to the cardiac center and before the PCI procedure, are shown in Table 1 and Table 2, respectively, and the association between the risk factors and Ramadan Fasting is shown in Table 3. The majority of the patients (78%) were known to have 3 to 5 risk factors, while patients who fasted had mostly less than 2 risk factors of cardiovascular disease with a P-value of 0.002. Figure 1 and Figure 2 show an elaboration of the association between Gender, Fasting, and duration.
Table 1
Demographic and Risk factors of the overall population.
Risk factor
|
N(%) in male N(%) in female
patients patients
|
Age (more than 40)
|
135(72.6%) 51(27.4%)
|
Previous heart disease
|
110(72.8%) 41(27.2%)
|
Hypertension
|
62(78.5%) 17(21.5%)
|
Diabetes
|
72(80.0%) 18(20.0%)
|
Hyperlipidemia
|
96(75.0%) 32(25.0%)
|
Smoking
|
77(60.6%) 50(39.4%)
|
Family history
|
122(73.9%) 43(26.1%)
|
Table 2
Presentation of the patients with admission to the Cardiac Center before PCI procedure.
Type of MI
|
N(%)
|
STEMI
|
163(81.5%)
|
NSTEMI
|
34(17.0%)
|
No significant change
|
3(1.5%)
|
Name of the occluded artery
|
N(%)
|
LAD
|
99(49.5%)
|
RCA
|
55(27.5%)
|
LCX
|
18(9.0%)
|
D1
|
4(2.0%)
|
OM
|
6(3.0%)
|
Double vessel for staged PCI
|
10(5.0%)
|
3VD for CABG
|
8(4.0%)
|
Table 3
showing association between the risk factors and Ramadan fasting of the overall population.
Risk factor
|
Fasting
|
Non-fasting
|
Could not continue fasting
|
Dead
|
P-value
|
Age
<39
≥40
|
8.8%
91.2%
|
8.0%
92.0%
|
0.0%
100.0%
|
0.0%
100.0%
|
0.618
|
Gender
Male
Female
|
75.0%
25.0%
|
64.0%
36.0%
|
100.0%
0.0%
|
100.0%
0.0%
|
0.001
|
Previous HD
Yes
No
|
35.3%
64.7%
|
15.0%
85.0%
|
38.9%
61.1%
|
38.6%
71.4%
|
0.007
|
Smoking
Yes
No
|
42.6%
57.4%
|
36.0%
64.0%
|
22.2%
77.8%
|
28.6%
71.4%
|
0.379
|
Hypertension
Yes
No
|
61.8%
38.2%
|
59.0%
41.0%
|
55.6%
44.4%
|
71.4%
28.6%
|
0.796
|
Diabetes
Yes
No
|
41.2%
58.8%
|
58.0%
42.0%
|
55.6%
44.4%
|
100.0%
0.0%
|
0.001
|
Hyperlipidemia
Yes
No
|
23.5%
76.5%
|
48.0%
52.0%
|
33.3%
66.7%
|
14.3%
85.7%
|
0.003
|
Family history
Yes
No
|
14.7%
85.3%
|
16.0%
84.%
|
38.9%
61.1%
|
14.3%
85.7%
|
0.131
|
Apart from the (7%) of the participants who passed away, (11.5%) were found to have had acute admissions post-PCI while the other (81.5%) were not, and on comparing the proportions of acute admissions among those who had PCI for less than six weeks, (15.0%) were found to be while it was (8.0%) among those who had PCI more than six weeks and the P-value was 0.095. On following up, (4.0%) were found to have had at least one cardiac intervention of vascularization particularly with PCI and the other (89.0%) did not have any interventions, and apart from the remaining (7%) who were found to have passed away. The proportion of intervention in patients who had PCI in less than six weeks was (6%) while it was (2%) in patients who had PCI in more than six weeks and the P-value was 0.101.
Our sample patients were divided into two equally numbered groups of patients in relation to the duration of their PCI procedure, Group I (patients with less than 6 weeks post-PCI), and Group II (patients with more than 6 weeks post-PCI procedure), and the two groups showed different frequencies of symptoms and NYHA classification during the month of Ramadan as shown in Table 4 and Table 5. The proportion of fasting and non-fasting patients showed a significant association with the duration of post-PCI with a P-value of 0.001 as 14% in Group I successfully fasted the month while it was 54% in Group II as illustrated in Figure 3.
Table 4
shows the association between the risk factors and Ramadan fasting of the overall population.
Post-PCI symptoms
|
(%) in patients of less than 6 weeks duration
|
(%) in patients of more than 6 weeks duration
|
Chest pain
|
23.0%
|
24.0%
|
SOB with exertion
|
53.0%
|
26.0%
|
Palpitation
|
17.0%
|
4.0%
|
Easy fatigability
|
39.0%
|
26.0%
|
*Note: These frequencies are apart from the 4% of patients who passed away in the group of fewer than 6 weeks duration and the 10% of patients of more than 6-week duration group. |
Table 5
NYHA classification of the patients during the month of Ramadan.
Post-PCI NYHA classification
|
(%) in patients of less than 6 weeks duration
|
(%) in patients of more than 6 weeks duration
|
Class I
|
32.0%
|
44.0%
|
Class II
|
26.0%
|
40.0%
|
Class III
|
21.0%
|
4.0%
|
Class IV
|
17.0%
|
2.0%
|
*Note: These frequencies are apart from the 4% of patients who passed away in the group of fewer than 6 weeks’ duration and the 10% of patients of more than 6-week duration group. |
Among our findings, there were significant associations with P-values of 0.001 between post-PCI symptoms and Ramadan Fasting in Group I (patients with less than 6 weeks of the PCI procedure) with a percentage of 14.3%, 27.1%, and 16.7% for patients who complained of chest pain respectively among fasting, non-fasting, and patients who could not continue to fast during the month. On the contrary, the proportions of those who complained of chest pain in Group II (patients with more than 6 weeks’ duration post-PCI) were 25.9% among the fasting patients, 20.0% among non-fasting patients, and 66.7% among those who could not continue to fast during the month. The proportion of those who experienced shortness of breath on exertion in Group I were 50% among fasting patients, 55.7% among non-fasting patients, and 58.3% among those who could not continue to fast while in Group II, the proportions were 18.5% among those who fasted, 46.7% among those who did not and 33.3% among those who could not continue the fast. For the palpitation complaint in Group I, the proportions was 14.3% among the fasting group, 14.3% among non-fasting, and 41.7% among those who could not continue, while in Group II the proportions were 3.7% among fasting, 6.7% among non-fasting, and 0% among those who could not continue to fast. While for easy fatigability in Group I, the proportions were 14.3% among fasting, 40.0% among non-fasting, and 75.0% among those who couldn’t continue, while the proportions in Group II were 25.9% among fasting, 40% among non-fasting, and 0% among those who couldn’t continue. Figure 4 shows the association of post-PCI symptoms with fasting among Group I.
On relating acute admissions with specific cardiac symptoms among the 12 patients who couldn’t continue their Ramadan Fasting in Group I, the proportion of acute admission among those who experienced shortness of breath was 28.6% while it was 100% among those who did not experience shortness of breath with a significant P-value of 0.028. However, in cases of easy fatigability, there was 77.8% acute admissions among those who experienced the symptom while it was 0.0% among those who did not experience it with a significant P-value of 0.045. This is shown in Table 6.
The relation between NYHA classification and Ramadan Fasting showed a significant P-value of 0.001 with proportions of class III classification in Group I of which showed 14.3% among fasting, 17.1% among non-fasting, and 58.3% among those who could not continue their fasting while in Group II, the proportions showed 3.7% among fasting, 6.7% among non-fasting, and 0% among those who could not continue their fasting.
Table 6
The association between symptoms and admissions among Group I who could not continue their fasting.
Symptoms
|
Acute Admission
|
P-value
|
SOB on exertion
Yes
No
|
28.6%
100%
|
0.028
|
Easy fatigability
Yes
No
|
77.8%
0.0%
|
0.045
|