ABSTRACT
Background: Congenital heart disease (CHD) has been defined as a gross structural abnormality of the heart or intrathoracic great vessels that are actually or potentially of functional significance. CHD accounts for about 10% of newborn deaths and nearly half of all deaths due to congenital malformations in developed countries. The vast majority of newborns escape early intervention. The most important role of a pediatrician today is to ensure that, as far as possible, serious CHD should not be missed, especially in the neonatal period and infancy where maximum attrition for CHD occurs. Objective: The objective of the study was to identify the pattern of CHD using echocardiography in newborns born in a tertiary care hospital in Tamil Nadu. Methodology: A cross-sectional observational study conducted for 1 year. One hundred and fifty newborns diagnosed to have CHD after they underwent routine clinical examination and pulse oximetry, followed by echocardiography, were included in this study. Study design: This is a cross-sectional study. Place of study: Government Theni Medical College. Study period: 1 year. Sample size: 150. Inclusion Criteria: Newborns diagnosed to have CHD confirmed with echocardiography were included in this study. Exclusion Criteria: Newborns whose parents refused to provide consent were excluded from the study. Results: This study group includes 56% of girls and 44% of boys. It shows that 83% are term babies and the remaining 17% from preterm groups. Among these, 146 babies had acyanotic heart disease as 97% and rest four newborns as 3% had cyanotic disease. Among 146 acyanotic heart disease, 76 newborns (52%) had atrial septal defect (ASD), followed by patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in 59 newborns (40%), ventricular septal defect (VSD) in 15 newborns (10%), pulmonary hypertension in eight newborns (5%), and magnetic resonance in only one newborn (0.6%). Among four newborns presented with cyanotic heart disease, two newborns presented with total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (50%), followed by transposition of great arteries (25%) and tetralogy of Fallot TOF (25%). Conclusion: In our study, the pattern of CHD is ASD, followed by PDA and VSD.