Spectrum of congenital heart diseases in an African population: A necropsy study

MO Thomas, Olugbenga Olusoji, Nicholas Awolola

Cardiothoracic Surgery Unit, Department of Anatomic and Molecular Pathology, Lagos University Teaching Hospital/College of Medicine of University of Lagos, Idi-araba, Lagos, Nigeria.

DOI: 10.4236/wjcd.2013.31008                

Abstract

Background: The spectrum and incidence of congenital heart diseases amongst African population are not well defined in literature. There is the need to further elucidate the spectrum and epidemiology of congenital heart diseases amongst African. Aim: This study was conducted to highlight the spectrum and occurrence of congenital heart diseases in an African population. Methodology: All paediatric patients who were autopsied over a 98-month period were checked for occurrence of congenital heart diseases. Attempts were made to ascertain the primary disease and causes of death. We noted their bio-data, ages, sexes and causes of death. The results were analysed with SPSS version 17. The results formed the basis for discussion and recommendations. Results: There were 135 cardiac related deaths and 36 of them were in paediatric age brackets. The mean age was 4.7 + 1.08 months with a standard deviation of 6.27. M:F ratio was 1:1.1. The commonest anomaly was ventricular septal defect. There was a weak association with other congenital anomalies. The commonest cause of death was bronchopneumonia. Discussion and Recommendation: The disease pattern showed reasonable similarity with reports from other parts of the world. However, there is need for development of capacity for prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart diseases in Africa. This will widen the net of diagnosis and improve accuracy of incidence studies in Africa.

Keywords

Congenital Heart Diseases Necropsy

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Eze, J.C. and Ezemba, N. (2007) Open-heart surgery in Nigeria: Indications and challenges. Texas Heart Institute Journal, 34, 8-10.
[2]	Gupta, B. and Antia, A.U. (1967) Incidence of congenital heart disease in Nigerian children. British Heart Journal, 29, 906-909. doi:10.1136/hrt.29.6.906
[3]	Antia, A.U. (1974) Congenital heart diseases in Nigeria: Clinical and necropsy study of 260 cases. Archives of Diseases in Childhood, 49, 36-39. doi:10.1136/adc.49.1.36
[4]	Maron, B.J., Applefeld, J.M. and Krovetz, L.J. (1973) Racial frequencies in congenital heart disease. Circulation, 47, 359-361. doi:10.1161/01.CIR.47.2.359
[5]	Gucer, S., Ince, T., Kale, G., Akwren, Z., Talin, S.O.B. and Caglar, M. (2005) Non cardiac malformations in congenital heart disease: A retrospective analysis of 305 pae-diatric autopsies. The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics, 47, 159-166.
[6]	Pinar, H. (2004) Postmortem findings in term neonates. Seminars in Neonatology, 9, 289-302. doi:10.1016/j.siny.2003.11.003
[7]	Greenwood, R.D., Rosenthal, A., Fyler, D. and Nadas, A.S. (1975) Extracardiac abnormalities in infants with conge- nital heart diseases. Paediatrics, 55, 485-492.
[8]	Ivemark, B.I. (1955) Implications of agenesis of the spleen on the pathogenesis of conotruncus anomalies in childhood; an analysis of the heart malformations in the splenic agenesis syndrome with fourteen new cases. Acta Paediatrica, 44, 7-110. doi:10.1111/j.1651-2227.1955.tb05346.x
[9]	Holt, M. and Oram, S. (1960) Familial heart disease with skeletal malformations. British Heart Journal, 22, 236- 242. doi:10.1136/hrt.22.2.236
[10]	Nkomo, V.T. (2009) Epidemiology of valvular heart diseases in Africa. South African, 6, 12-18.
[11]	Caraptis, J.R., Steer, A.C., Mulholland, E.K., et al. (2005) The global burden of group A streptococcal disease. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 511, 685-694.
[12]	Pradat, P., Franeannet, C., Harris, J.A. and Robert, E. (2003) The epidemiology of cardiovascular defects, Part 1: A study based on data from three large registries of congenital malformations. Pediatric Cardiology, 24, 195-221. doi:10.1007/s00246-002-9401-6
[13]	Tennstedt, C., Chaoul, R., Komer, H. and Dietei, M. (1999) Spectrum of congenital heart defects and extracardiac malformations associated with chromosome abnormalities: Result of seven year necropsy study. Heart, 82, 34-39.