Arrhythmia prevalence, predictors, and impact on hospital-associated outcomes among patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Introduction

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common lymphoma and accounts for about 25% of non-Hodgkin lymphoma cases in the developed world.

^, It is an aggressive histologic variant, with subtypes differing in morphology, genetics and clinical features. ^, About three quarter of cases achieve cure with immunochemotherapy, one tenth of them are refractory and 25% relapse after therapy with first line treatment options. Cardiac involvement from non-Hodgkin lymphoma is estimated to occur in about 18% of patients with this condition, with a median onset of about twenty (20) months post-diagnosis. Cardiac arrhythmias is one of the reported findings seen in this patient population ^, and its occurrence is believed to be as a result of invasion of unusual sites such as the conduction pathway. Research has been published on indolent lymphomas and has reported an increased risk of cardiac arrhythmia with atrial fibrillation being the commonest. However, no study has been conducted on patients with DLBCL. The aim of our study was to evaluate the burden of arrhythmia among DLBCL patients and examine the factors associated with arrhythmias among hospitalized patients in this population. We also assessed the impact of arrhythmias on hospital-associated outcomes such as inpatient mortality, length of stay and total hospital charges. Arrhythmias were analyzed overall and stratified by subtypes – atrial fibrillation, ventricular fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia, supraventricular tachycardia, and premature atrial/ventricular depolarization. Our findings will provide more insight into the common arrhythmias prevalent in this population and the impact on inpatient outcomes to increase awareness among physicians and patients.