Congenital heart disease among children undergoing echocardiography in the Department of Pediatrics of tertiary care centre : a descriptive cross-sectional study

Introduction: Congenital heart disease in children are a major cause of infant mortality and morbidity. It is important to detect and manage these disorders timely as they are preventable. The objective of this study was to find out proportion of congenital heart disease in children in pediatric department in a tertiary hospital. Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study carried out in the Department of Pediatric at Nepal Medical College and Teaching Hospital where all children (0-18 years) suspected to have congenital heart disease who underwent echocardiography were studied over a period of 1 year (2020-2021). The presence or absence of congenital heart disease were confirmed by echocardiography performed by pediatric cardiologist. The socioeconomic variables,clinical features and echocardiography findings were noted. Results: Out of total 249 patients,the proportion of patients diagnosed to have cardiac disorders was 73 with male predominance of 165 (66.26%). The most common age group was found to be neonates 111 (44%).The notable clinical features were murmur 47 (18.87%), tachypnoea 27 (10.84%),tachycardia 27 (10.84%) and cyanosis 9 (3.61%), clubbing 2 (0.80%), oedema 1 (0.40%), hypertension 9 (3.65%), murmur 47 (18.87%). Out of the total, there were 49 (19.67%) cases of acyanotic congenital heart disease, and 27 (10.84%) cases of cyanotic congenital heart disease. Conclusions: Our study focuses on early recognition of cardiac diseases which is crucial for preventing morbidity and mortality.