Haider Shirazi, Nadeem Haider, Mumtaz Hassan.
Pattern of heart diseases in children.
Ann Pak Inst Med Sci Jan ;4(1):50-5.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the age, sex distribution and relative frequency of various forms of heart diseases in Children at a tertiary Hospital in Islamabad. Design: Prospective observational study. An eighteen month analysis of all children suspected of a heart disease at a tertiary referral centre. Study period: Study was conducted over a period of 18 Months from January 2006 to June 2007. Settings: Study was conducted at the Children Hospital, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad. Results: During a study period of 18 months a total of 1335 cases with a suspicion of a heart disease were referred for evaluation. After echocardiography, 169 (12.7%) patients were found to be normal and excluded from the study. Patients with confirmed cardiac lesions were 1166 (87.35%). Out of these 695 (59.6%) were male and 471 (40.4) were females. Congenital heart defects (CHD) was seen in 901 (79.3%) whereas acquired heart disease (AHD) was seen in 229(19.6%) cases. Ventricular septal defect (VSD) was the most common lesion detected in 394 cases (43.7% of all cases of CHD) followed by patent ductus arteriosus seen in 149 (16.5%).Tetrology of Fallot was the commonest cyanotic lesion (15%) with mean age of presentation of 4.7 years. Children below the age of one month were 144 (16%). Amongst the AHD, 79.5 % ( 182) had rheumatic heart disease (RHD) whereas 17% had dilated cardiomyopathy. Mitral regurgitation was the commonest lesion seen in 104 cases (56% of all RHD). The cases of dilated cardiomyopathy were evenly distributed with no specific seasonal pattern. Conclusion: Majority of patient with congenital heart disease detected in a tertiary care center have non-cyanotic CHD. Early detection is important for proper management and to avoid complications. Neonatal screening programme in the hospitals can partially address this problem. Rheumatic heart disease still continues to be an important cause of morbidity in our country.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com