A 4-year review of echocardiographic findings in a Paediatric Cardiology unit in a tertiary health facility, Calabar, Nigeria

Abstract

Context: Echocardiography is the gold standard for diagnosing structural heart diseases which is the commonest reason for referral to Paediatric Cardiology Clinic.

Objective: This study was to determine the various indications for paediatric echocardiography and the pattern of cardiovascular abnormalities among children undergoing echocardiography in our facility. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive cross -sectional study where the echocardiographic register of patients over a 4-year period was reviewed. The echo findings were described and classified based on the lesions.

Results: Of the 285 children that underwent echocardiography, 35.8% had normal findings, 34.7% had acyanotic congenital heart defects, 8.1% had cyanotic congenital heart defects and 18.9% had various acquired heart lesions. Ventricular septal defect (12.6%) and atrial septal defect (8.4%) were the commonest acyanotic congenital heart defects while tetralogy of Fallot (4.2%) was the commonest cyanotic congenital heart defect. The commonest acquired heart diseases were pericardial effusion and rheumatic heart disease constituting 6.5% and 5.6% respectively.

Conclusion: Structural heart diseases are significant causes of morbidity in children. There is a pressing need for institutional and national allocation of resources to develop facilities to support and care for children with structural heart diseases.