The Association between Cyanotic and Acyanotic Congenital Heart Disease with Nutritional Status

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is one of the most common birth anomalies in the 1st year of life. The incidence of CHD in developed and developing countries is varied, between 6 and 10 cases per 1000 live birth. Some factors contribute to the nutritional status of CHD patients, such as nutrient inputs, energy requirements, and dietary components. Irrespective of the nature of the cardiac defect and the presence or absence of cyanosis, malnutrition is a common finding in children with congenital heart anomalies. Recent studies have tried to investigate malnutrition development based on the type or category of CHD.
 AIM: This study aims to investigate the association between cyanotic and acyanotic CHD with nutritional status.
 METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to March 2018 in the pediatric cardiology outpatient clinic of the Haji Adam Malik General Hospital, Medan, Indonesia.
 RESULTS: During the study period, 58 children were admitted, consisting of 31 (53.4%) males and 27 (46.6%) females, with a mean age of 57 months. There was no significant sex predilection found in the study (p = 0.207). The proportion of patients who developed malnutrition was 70.7% (mild-moderate = 48.3% and severe = 22.4%). There was an association between cyanotic and acyanotic CHD with nutritional status (p = 0.015). Wasting was found in 33 children (56.8%) that had a significant association with the type of heart defects (p = 0.001). Patients with cyanotic CHDs were found to have a lower risk for malnutrition compared to the acyanotic group (prevalence odds ratio = 0.218, and prevalence risk = 0.661; p = 0.015).
 CONCLUSIONS: There is an association between cyanotic and acyanotic CHD with nutritional status.