Research in Medicine

 Background: Due to the relationship between air pollution and occurrence of de-novo heart failure (HF) or decompensation of symptoms of HF, we aimed to evaluate such relationship in HF admissions in Isfahan hospitals.
Materials and methods: This case-crossover study is performed on 120 patients with mean age of 65.9±10.4 (45-86 years old) from cases referred to hospitals, which resulted in hospitalization with diagnosis of HF. After filling the patient information sheet, concentration of air pollutants including suspended particles (PM10) and gases (CO, NO2, SO2) within two days before hospitalization were searched from climatologic sites. Data were analyzed via SPSS software through t-test and Pearson's correlation test.
Results: HF was diagnosed in 54.2% of cases. The mean value of PM10، CO, NO2 and SO2 indexes showed significant difference between HF and control cases (p<0.001). There was a significant difference between ESR and mean value of PM10 and NO2 (p<0.05). ESR had no significant relationship with other air pollution parameters (p>0.05). CRP showed a significant relationship with mean values of PM10، and CO, but CRP and ICAM showed no significant relationship with NO2 and SO2.
Conclusion: There is a strong link between concentration of air pollutants and decompensation of HF symptoms.