Search

Background/Introduction Influenza remains a major risk to human health, estimated to result in 290,000 to 650,000 annual deaths worldwide. The association of influenza with coronary events is well established but influenza's impact on cardiac arrhythmias has received less attention. Purpose We investigated the effect of influenza on triggering supraventricular tachycardia (SVT). Methods This retrospective observational study included de-identified data from patients who had a Zio patch continuous cardiac monitoring from October 2012 to September 2017. The “influenza activity” was defined as the percentage of positive respiratory specimens that tested for influenza virus during each influenza season per reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We included all SVT events from the weeks with the highest and lowest influenza activity up to two consecutive weeks after them. A paired t-test was used to compare the incidence of SVT episodes in weeks with the highest and lowest influenza activity. Results We reviewed records of 825869 patients (mean age, 61.06±15.31 years; 48.75% male); of these patients, 49984 had Zio patch during highest and lowest influenza activity time frame. The overall average episodes of SVT per person was 25% higher in the highest influenzas activity period comparing to the lowest activity (59.05 vs 47.26) and the higher incidence of SVT episodes in the highest influenza activity was significant (P value Figure 1. average number of SVT episodes Conclusion High seasonal influenza activity is associated with increased odds of supraventricular tachycardia. Prospective studies are needed to determine the clinical implications of this finding.