Congenital heart diseases in zagazig university hospitals: Magnitude of the problem throughout year 2009

Congenital heart disease is the most common congenital problem inchildren accounting for nearly 25% of all congenital malformations.Congenital heart disease occurs in 0.5–0.8% of live births. Theincidence is higher in stillborns (3–4%), abortuses (10–25%), andpremature infants (about 2% excluding patent ductus arteriosus.The cause of most congenital heart defects is unknown, but rapidprogress is being made in identifying the genetic basis of many congenitalheart lesions. Most cases of congenital heart disease were thought to bemultifactorial and result from a combination of genetic predisposition andenvironmental stimulus.A history of CHD in close relatives increases the chance of CHD in achild. In general, when one child is affected, the risk of recurrence insiblings is about 3%, which is a three fold increase in incidence than innormal. Having a child with Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS)increases the risk of CHD in a subsequent child (to approximately 10%).Lesions with high prevalence (e.g., VSD) tend to have a higher risk ofrecurrence, and lesions with a lower prevalence (e.g., tricuspid atresia,persistent truncus arteriosus) have a lower risk of recurrence.This descriptive analytical study has been performed in Zagaziguniversity pediatric hospital to identify the incidence and prevalence ofcongenital heart diseases in pediatrics throughout year (2009) and toidentify the most frequent lesions. The most frequent non cyanotic lesionis VSD and the most frequent cyanotic lesion is Tetralogy of Fallot.