| Summary: | Neðst á síðunni er hægt að nálgast greinina í heild sinni með því að smella á hlekkinn View/Open Objective: Several investigations have been published on the incidence of congenital heart defects (CHD), showing the incidence to be 0.8-1.1%. Few studies have dealt with the incidence of CHD in twins, but they indicate higher incidence of CHD among twins compared to singletons. The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence of CHD and the different types of defects among twins born in Iceland over a 10 year period and compare the data to the incidence of CHD in the Icelandic population. Material and methods: Information was obtained on all twins born alive in Iceland from 1986-1995 at the Icelandic Statistical Bureau. That list was compared to a list of all children born in Iceland over the same period and diagnosed with CHD, thus finding all twins with diagnosed CHD. The incidence of CHD for the period of 1986-1990 and 1991-1995 was studied separately. Causes of death, whether the patients needed treatment or not, and the results of treatment were studied. Chi-squared test for statistical analysis was used when appropriate. Results: Incidence: Of 1089 liveborn twins 35 had CHD or 3.21% compared to an incidence rate of 1.0% among singletons, which is a statistically significant difference (p<0.001). The incidence was 2.13% in the years 1986-1990 and 3.78% in the years 1991-1995 (p<0.005). Types of defects: Of 35 twins with CHD 20 had minor defects (no treatment needed) whereas 15 had major defects. Ventricular septal defects were the most common defects encountered, or 40%, atrial septal defects were 20%, patent ductus arteriosus 9%, complex defects 9% and tetralogy of Fallot 6%. Other defects were less common. Sex ratio: The male/female ratio was 0.591, whereas the ratio in the control population was 1.1. However, this did not reach statistical difference (p>0.05). Twin types: Of the twins with CHD 34% were male-female pairs, 26% were male-male pairs and 40% were female-female pairs. Age at ...
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