Cardiovascular Profile of Patients Presenting for Echocardiography at Two Tertiary Centres in Southwestern Nigeria

Echocardiography is a versatile, non-invasive diagnostic tool in cardiology. However, cardiovascular audits of non-invasive laboratories are rarely performed in Nigerian centres, creating a gap in understanding the local disease burden and resource allocation.

This study aims to characterize the cardiovascular profile of patients referred for echocardiography at two tertiary centres in Ogbomoso, Southwestern Nigeria.

This prospective observational study employed total sampling of all echocardiograms performed over 300 days. Data were collated using a Google Form and analysed for patient demographics, clinical indications, cardiovascular risk factors, past medical history, and prescribed medications.

A total of 427 echocardiograms were analysed; 43.3% of patients were male, and only 9.4% had health insurance. The most common indication for echocardiography was monitoring of known heart conditions (30.7%), followed by chest pain (24.1%), breathlessness (11.5%), and palpitations/arrhythmias (10.3%). Hypertension was the predominant past medical history (67.9%), with valvular heart disease (20.6%) and diabetes mellitus (5.5%) also prevalent. Family history of hypertension was reported in 36.3%. The most prescribed medications were calcium channel blockers (58.5%), beta-blockers (27.5%), and loop diuretics (22.3%).

This study provides a comprehensive cardiovascular profile of patients undergoing echocardiography in two Southwestern Nigerian centres, highlighting hypertension as the dominant comorbidity and monitoring as the primary indication. These findings establish a critical baseline for service planning, targeted interventions, and future audits in the region.