Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Sep-Dec;9(3):205-9.
doi: 10.4103/0974-2069.189122.

Birth prevalence of congenital heart disease: A cross-sectional observational study from North India

Anita Saxena  1 , Anurag Mehta  2 , Mamta Sharma  3 , Sudha Salhan  4 , Mani Kalaivani  5 , Sivasubramanian Ramakrishnan  6 , Rajnish Juneja  6
Affiliations

Birth prevalence of congenital heart disease: A cross-sectional observational study from North India

Anita Saxena et al. Ann Pediatr Cardiol. 2016 Sep-Dec.

Abstract

Objective: To assess the birth prevalence and pattern of congenital heart disease (CHD) using echocardiography in babies born in a community hospital of North India.

Methods: A cross-sectional observational study conducted over a period of 3 years. Newborns born over a specific 8-h period of the day were recruited in the study. They underwent routine clinical examination and pulse oximetry, followed by screening echocardiography for diagnosing a CHD.

Results: A total of 20,307 newborns were screened, among which 874 had abnormal echocardiograms; 687 had insignificant CHDs, 164 had significant CHDs, and 24 had other abnormal cardiac findings. The birth prevalence of significant CHDs was 8.07 per 1000 live births; 131 newborns had an acyanotic CHD (79.9%) and 33 a cyanotic CHD (20.1%). Ventricular septal defect (VSD) was the most common acyanotic CHD, present in 116 newborns, giving a prevalence of 5.7/1000 live births. Among the cyanotic CHD, transposition of great arteries was most common (prevalence 0.34/1000 live births).

Conclusion: The CHD birth prevalence in our study is similar to the reported worldwide birth prevalence. Acyanotic CHD (mostly VSD) is seen in about three-fourths of babies born with CHD. The more sinister cyanotic CHD is present in remaining 25%.

Keywords: Congenital heart disease; echocardiography; newborns; prevalence.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Echocardiographic findings in the total cohort (n = 20,307). CHD: Congenital heart disease, Others: Other cardiac findings. *One newborn had congenital heart block (other cardiac finding) along with Tetralogy of Fallot
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Mitchell SC, Korones SB, Berende HW. Congenital heart disease in 56,109 births. Incidence and natural history. Circulation. 1971;43:323–32. - PubMed
    1. Wren C, Reinhardt Z, Khawaja K. Twenty-year trends in diagnosis of life-threatening neonatal cardiovascular malformations. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2008;93:F33–5. - PubMed
    1. Dolk H, Loane M, Garne E for the European Surveillance of Congenital Anomalies (EUROCAT) Working Group. Congenital heart diseases in Europe: Prevalence and perinatal mortality, 2000 to 2005. Circulation. 2011;123:841–9. - PubMed
    1. Bernier PL, Stefanescu A, Samoukovic G, Tchervenkov CI. The challenge of congenital heart disease worldwide: Epidemiologic and demographic facts. Semin Thorac Cardiovasc Surg Pediatr Card Surg Annu. 2010;13:26–34. - PubMed
    1. Van der Linde D, Konings EE, Slager MA, Witsenburg M, Helbing WA, Takkenberg JJ, et al. Birth prevalence of congenital heart disease worldwide: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2011;58:2241–7. - PubMed