Spectrum of congenital heart diseases and its correlation with maternal risk factors

Abstract

Objectives: The present study was sought to determine the spectrum of congenital heart diseases (CHDs) and their correlation with maternal risk factors at a tertiary care hospital situated in sub-urban area. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional, observational study was conducted from February 2019 to February 2020. A total of 100 children suspected for CHD were screened and 67 confirmed CHD cases were enrolled into the study. Children having cardiomyopathy, rheumatic heart disease, secondary heart disease, and asymptomatic children were excluded from the study. Detailed history of presenting complaints, pregnancy, family history, consanguinity, and socioeconomic status was documented. Chest X-ray, electrocardiogram, and echocardiography were done to arrive at a definitive diagnosis. All the statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS software version 20.0 (IBM Corp, Somers, NY, USA). Results: Majority of the children presented with symptoms in the age group of 1–5 years. Most of the parents of children with CHD were educated up to secondary educational level (34%) followed by illiterate (24%). Economic status of most of the parents was upper lower class (67%). Maternal risk factors were not observed in 60% (n = 40) of the cases. 41.79% of CHD children were born to consanguineously married couple. Maternal stress was present in 40% of the cases. The most common presenting complaint was lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI in 61%). Murmur was seen in 70% (n = 47) of the cases. Majority of the cases (84%) were acyanotic and cyanosis was present in 16% of the cases. Atrial septal defect (ASD) was the most common which constituted 44.6% in acyanotic heart disease while tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) was the most common with 18.1% in cyanotic heart disease. In both cyanotic and acyanotic CHD groups, majority of the cases had no maternal risk factors (45.5% and 62.5%, respectively). Conclusion: The most common types of CHDs in acyanotic and cyanotic CHD groups are ASD and TOF, respectively. Consanguinity, stress during pregnancy, and diabetes mellitus were identified as the major risk factors for CHD. LRTI and shortness of breath were the most common clinical features in children with CHD.