RESUMO
To study the pattern of congenital heart diseases in Northern Jordan. Design: A prospective study of 170 children with congenital heart disease. Setting: Princess Rahmah Teaching Children Hospital. All cases of congenital heart diseases in Northern Jordan over two years period starting January 1994. Result: A single heart defect was seen in 90% of cases with Ventricular Septal Defect [VSD] being the commonest seen in 44% followed by Atrial Septal Defect [ASD] in 13.5%. Of the 10% with combined or complex heart defects, a combined VSD and ASD were the commonest seen in six paients [35%]. The overall male to female sex ratio are 1.1:1.0. There is identical sex distribution for VSD. Male predominance is seen in pulmonary stenosis, aortic stenosis, atrioventricular canal defects and fallot tetralogy. Female predominance is seen in ASD, Patent Ductus Arteriosus and Transposition of Great Arteries. Half of the patients with congenital heart diseases are diagnosed by three months and three quarter by the age of six months. This is the first study on congenital heart diseases in Northern Jordan that shows a VSD being the commonest, corrobaratim previous reports but have an unexplained higher incidence of ASD