Childhood Heart Disease in Côte d’Ivoire: Retrospective Multicentric Study about 228 Cases

Abstract

Introduction: In Cote d’Ivoire, the paediatrician has to face a diagnosis and management problem in front of pediatric heart disease, with consequent a high lethality. Objective: To describe the epidemiological, diagnostic, therapeutic and progressive aspects of childhood cardiopathy for the improvement of prognosis and professional practice. Materials and methods: This was a multicenter retrospective and descriptive study conducted from January 2011 to March 2016 in two main hospitals universities, one located in Abidjan and the other in Bouaké. It concerned children aged 0 to 15 admitted for cardiac disease diagnosed on clinical and/or echocardiographic arguments. The variables studied were the epidemiological, diagnostic, therapeutic and evolutionary aspects. Results: A total of 49.760 admissions including 228 infantile heart disease cases (congenital 113, acquired 51, indeterminate 64) are overall prevalence of 4.6‰. They involved 106 boys and 122 girls. In 74.6% of cases, the age was between 0 and 2 years. Respiratory distress 73.7% was the main reason for consultation. The main congenital heart diseases (CHD) are ventricular septal defect (VSD) (31%), atrial septal defect (ASD) (20.4%), atrioventricular canal (AVSD) (12.4%) and tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) (11.5%). As for acquired forms (AHD), rheumatic mitral insufficiency (41.2%) and tuberculous pericarditis (15.7%) were the two main causes. Treatment progress is marked by stabilization (71.1%) and death (14%). Death was significantly associated with low socioeconomic status (p = 0.01) and with complication (p 0.001). Conclusion: Infantile heart diseases are relatively less frequent and serious in Cote d’Ivoire. To improve the prognosis, close collaboration between the pediatrician and the cardiologist is required for early diagnosis and management.