Pattern of heart diseases among patients referred to a paediatric cardiology clinic in Sri Lanka, the situation from 2010 to 2012

Background:

Epidemiology of cardiac diseases among paediatric population remain largely undocumented in Sri Lanka. The objective of this study was to identify the pattern of heart diseases among patients referred to the Paediatric cardiology clinic at Teaching Hospital Kandy and Sirimavo Bandaranaike Specialized Childrens’ Hospital (SBSCH) Peradeniya.

Methods:

Demographic, clinical details and echocardiography details of patients referred for cardiac assessment between 1^st 2010 to 30^th November, 2012 were descriptively analysed.

Results:

Ten thousand, six hundred and seventy-eight (10678) newly referred patients were evaluated over the study period. Of the study cohort 6582 patients had some form of heart disease. Among them, 5363 (50.2%) had congenital heart diseases (CHDs). The most frequent acyanotic heart disease was Atrial Septal Defect (ASD-3024 patients). Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) ranked second in frequency (697 patients). The commonest cyanotic CHD was Tetralogy of Fallot (79 patients). There were 1200 patients with acquired heart diseases. The most frequent preventable acquired heart disease was Rheumatic valvular heart disease (80 patients).

Conclusions:

The commonest CHD among the study cohort was ASD while Tetralogy of Fallot was the commonest cyanotic heart disease. Early identification is important to ensure appropriate interventions and prevent complications.