Prevalence of Fibromyalgia Syndrome and Its Correlations with Arrhythmia in Patients with Palpitations.

OBJECTIVE

It is aimed to determine the prevalence of fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) and its correlations with arrhythmia in patients with palpitations.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Sixty-two patients who underwent electrophysiological study (EPS) due to palpitation complaints in Cardiology department and 40 healthy controls were included in the study. The precise diagnosis of arrhythmia was established using EPS. All participants were screened for FMS using American College of Rheumatology 2010 Fibromyalgia diagnostic criteria. Clinical assessments included measurement of severity of pain, fatigue and morning fatigue with visual analog scale (VAS), functional status with Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), and anxiety/depression with Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD).

RESULTS

FMS was diagnosed in 22 of the 62 patients (36%), and 4 of the 40 healthy controls (10%) (p 0.05). EPS+ patients with FMS had higher fatigue levels, HAD and FIQ scores than EPS- patients, although statistically insignificant. HV durations were statistically longer in the EPS- subgroup (p < 0.05) but other EPS data were similar.

CONCLUSION

FMS frequency and HAD anxiety scores were found to be higher in patients with palpitation complaints. However, we found no association between arrhythmia, EPS parameters and FMS. In our clinical practice we should keep in mind to carry out assessments in terms of FMS in patients with palpitation.