TITLE:
Prevalence and Pattern of Congenital Heart Disease among Children—A Population Based Study in a District in North Bengal of Eastern India
AUTHORS:
Pares Bandyopadhyay, Binay Krishna Sarkar, Shyamajit Samaddar
KEYWORDS:
Congenital Heart Diseases (CHD), Eastern India, Prevalance, Echocardiography, Pattern
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of Cardiovascular Surgery,
Vol.15 No.11,
November
7,
2025
ABSTRACT: Introduction: Prevalence of congenital cardiac defects varies in different locations and the types of population selected in study. However CHD is the commonest and present in about 1% of all live births. Age of presentation also varies depending on the type of CHD and its complexity. Main objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of CHD in the population of a specific district in NorthBengal of Eastern India by a direct community level assessment. Such type of study in this area was not known so far. Methods: This retrospective observational study was done at the department of cardiothoracic surgery NRS Medical college during a period from April 22 to March 23. The study was based on all children (0 to 18 yrs age) screened at community level in the district by health workers. All CHD pts screened were notified to this department through an online network. They were called to attend the OPD, and seen by a paediatric cardiologist. Echocardiography was done in all of them and CHDs were categorised. Prevalence of CHD was studied per 1000 paediatric population and per 1000 live births separately during the period. Agewise and diseasewise distribution of CHD in the district was studied. Cases demanding surgery were operated in the department of CTVS of NRS Med coll. Results: The prevalence of CHD in the present community-based study was 4.55 per 1000 live birth which is comparable to many school-based studies but on the lower side of many hospital-based studies. Majority of CHD cases were detected in less than 1 year age (46%) and in 1 - 5 years age (33%). Most of our patients were acyanotic (82%), majority being VSD (43.4%), while the cyanotic patients were 15%, majority being TOF (8%). The rest 3% was of obstructive variety. Conclusion: Our study involved the population at community level involving newborns at point of delivery, pre-school and school (both primary and secondary) children altogether in a district which is more perfect than isolated newborn unit or paedatric OPD patients in tertiary care hospitals where the prevalnce is more possibly because of many factors like quality of care and concentration of patients in those hospitals. VSD and TOF are the most common acyanotic and cyanotic congenital heart defects respectively.