| Summary: | Neðst á síðunni er hægt að nálgast greinina í heild sinni með því að smella á hlekkinn View/Open Objective: About 1% of live born children have congenital heart defects (CHD). Knowledge of the true incidence of CHD is important because of the risk of bacterial endocarditis in patients with heart defects. This knowledge could also serve as a basis for research on the etiology of CHD. The aim of our study was to investigate the incidence of CHD in children born in Iceland during a ten year period, from 1990 to 1999. A similar study on CHD was carried out in Iceland for children born 1985-1989. The incidence of CHD in the present study was compared to the previous and to similar studies from other countries. Material and methods: Information about the patients were obtained from medical records from two hospitals covering the whole country, a private clinic of pediatric cardiologists, echocardiography database, autopsy reports and death certificates. Distribution of specific heart defects, age at diagnosis, symptoms leading to the diagnosis, referral pattern, treatment and quality of life was investigated. Other congenital defects, chromosomal defects and syndromes in the patients were studied. Premature children with patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) and children with patent foramen ovale (PFO) or atrial septal defect (ASD) smaller than four millimeters were excluded. We also studied the incidence of bicuspid aortic valve (BAV). All diagnoses were confirmed with echocardiography and in some cases cardiac catheterization. Results: Between 1990 and 1999 there were 44,013 live births in Iceland, 740 children were diagnosed with a CHD or 1.7% of live born children. Yearly incidence varied from 1.04% of live births in 1991 to 2.34% in 1997. Male/female ratio was 1/1. The distribution of the defects was following: ventricular septal defect (VSD) 338 (45.7%), ASD 90 (12.2%), PDA 85 (11.5%), valvar pulmonal stenosis 48 (6.5%), BAV 38 (5.1%), coarctation of the aorta 28 (3.8%), tetrology of Fallot 22 (3.0%), transposition ...
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