Abstract
BackgroundCongenital heart diseases (CHD) are among the most common congenital malformations. It is estimated that the incidence of CHD is constant worldwide, but data are rare for most African countries including Tanzania. Even less data are available on the prevalence of acquired heart diseases (AHD) in African children. Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is the leading cause of AHD and is remaining a public health concern in Sub-Saharan Africa affecting especially the younger population. Both, CHD and AHD contribute substantially to morbidity and mortality during infancy and childhood.MethodsThis hospital-based, retrospective review of the registry at the paediatric cardiac clinic of Bugando Medical Centre in the Lake Zone of Tanzania analysed the spectrum of heart diseases of paediatric patients during their first presentation by using simple descriptive statistics.ResultsBetween September 2009 and August 2016, a total of 3982 patients received cardiac evaluation including echocardiography studies. 1830 (46.0%) pathologic findings were described, out of these 1371 (74.9%) patients had CHD, whereas 459 (25.1%) presented with AHD.53.9% of the patients with CHD were female and the most common associated syndrome was Down syndrome in 12.8% of patients. In 807 patients (58.9%) diagnosis of CHD was established within the first year of life. The majority of patients (60.1%) were in need of surgical or interventional therapy at time of diagnosis and 6.3% of patients were judged inoperable at the time of first presentation. Nearly 50% of cases with AHD were RHDs followed by dilated cardiomyopathy and pulmonary hypertension without underlying CHD.ConclusionsThe spectrum of CHD and AHD from one centre in Tanzania is comparable to findings reported in other countries from the African continent. Echocardiography is a valuable diagnostic tool and the widespread use of it should be enhanced to diagnose heart diseases in a large number and reasonable time. Most patients present late and majority is in need of surgical or interventional treatment, which is still not readily available. Untreated heart diseases contribute substantially to morbidity and mortality during infancy and childhood. Adequate cardiac services should be established and strengthened.
Highlights
Congenital heart diseases (CHD) are among the most common congenital malformations
Given a current birth rate of 2.1 million babies per year in the United Republic of Tanzania [10] and considering an estimated incidence of 8 cases with CHD / 1000 live births would mean that up to 16.800 infants per year might be born with congenital heart disease
Congenital heart diseases 53.9% of the patients with CHD were female and 19.3% of all cardiac patients presented with associated syndromes or extracardiac malformations
Summary
It is estimated that the incidence of CHD is constant worldwide, but data are rare for most African countries including Tanzania. Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is the leading cause of AHD and is remaining a public health concern in SubSaharan Africa affecting especially the younger population. It is estimated that the incidence of CHD is constant worldwide [3, 4], though data are rare for most African countries [5, 6]. Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is still the leading cause of AHD and is remaining a public health concern in Sub-Saharan Africa affecting especially the young population [11, 12]
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