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Observational Study
. 2022 Oct;89(10):1013-1015.
doi: 10.1007/s12098-022-04125-z. Epub 2022 Feb 17.

Folate Deficiency: A Possible Association with Congenital Heart Defects

Reva Tyagi  1 , Sanjay Verma  2 , Nabaneeta Dash  3 , Manoj Kumar Rohit  4 , Naveen Sankhyan  1 , Savita Verma Attri  1
Affiliations
Observational Study

Folate Deficiency: A Possible Association with Congenital Heart Defects

Reva Tyagi et al. Indian J Pediatr. 2022 Oct.

Abstract

Congenital heart defects continue to remain a major cause of serious morbidity and mortality, especially in the developing world. This study was planned to get some insight into the role of modifiable nutritional elements in structural CHD etiology. This cross-sectional, observational study was conducted at a hospital in Northern India from January 2017 to December 2017. Infants < 6 mo with structural CHD as cases and those without structural heart disease were enrolled as controls. Blood samples were collected from mother-child pairs and tested for serum folate, vitamin B12, and homocysteine. It was found that 46.7% infant-mother pairs, out of 45 in the cases group had folate deficiency, whereas in the control group, only 20% had folate deficiency, which was statistically significant (p = 0.013). Baby (0-6 mo) with congenital heart defects (CHD) and their mothers are more likely to have low folate levels compared to those not having CHD.

Keywords: Children; Congenital heart defects; Folate; India; Vitamin B12.

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