Prevalence of Congenital Heart Diseases Among Infants
Keywords:
Congenital heart diseases, infants, prevalence, Kirkuk, Iraqi Hospitals, consanguineous marriage, echocardiographyAbstract
Background: Congenital Heart Diseases (CHD) is the most common type of major congenital malformations number among newborns as well as the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in infancy especially in low-developed countries. Studies across different regions highlight the interplay of multiple social and environmental risk factors, such as high prevalence of consanguineous marriages, weak pre- and post-natal screening programs and the need for reliable local epidemiological data in certain provinces in Iraq, including Kirkuk9 volume up. AIM: To identify the frequency of congenital heart diseases in infants admitted to Kirkuk General Hospital during the three years period (2023 -2026), and the clinical presentation and risk factors associated with it. Materials and Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was performed including a review of medical records of the patients with congenital heart diseases underwent two-dimensional echocardiography in the Maternity, Gynecology, and Pediatrics Hospital for the period from January 2023 to June 2026. The demographic, clinical and parental risk variables were taken and the data was analyzed using SPSS version 26. Results :Between 1982 and 2020, there were 26,450 live births in our study, and diagnosed 312 cases of congenital heart disease, with a prevalence of 11.8 per 1,000 live births. The m:f ratio was 53.8-46.2% (1.17:1) The most frequent type was ventricular septal defect (VSD) (31.4%), followed by atrial septal defect (18.3%) and patent ductus arteriosus (14.1%). Non-cyanotic forms were (77.9%) more frequent than cyanotic ones (22.1%). Consanguinity was present and the non-use of folic acid in the pre-pregnancy period was found in 57.1% and 46.2% respectively Cases detected annually demonstrated a gradual increase, starting at 89 and ending at 119 cases between 2023 and 2026. Conclusion: The rate of congenital heart diseases in Kirkuk Governorate is significantly in a high level, and this rate is in agreement with the pattern detail in other Iraq governorates, and in consanguineous marriages play important role for as a major risk factor. Too Many Heart Defects Go Unnoticed, Highlights Need for Registry and Early Screening Efforts The findings highlight the urgent need for national cardiac screening programs and a unified registry for congenital heart defects.
References
J. I. E. Hoffman and S. Kaplan, "The incidence of congenital heart disease," J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., vol. 39, no. 12, pp. 1890–1900, 2002.
D. van der Linde, E. E. Konings, M. A. Slager, M. Witsenburg, W. A. Helbing, J. J. M. Takkenberg, and J. W. Roos-Hesselink, "Birth prevalence of congenital heart disease worldwide: a systematic review and meta-analysis," J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., vol. 58, no. 21, pp. 2241–2247, 2011.
Y. Liu, S. Chen, L. Zühlke, G. C. Black, M. K. Choy, N. Li, B. D. Keavney, et al., "Global birth prevalence of congenital heart defects 1970-2017: updated systematic review and meta-analysis of 260 studies," Int. J. Epidemiol., vol. 48, no. 2, pp. 455–463, 2019.
M. S. Zimmerman, A. G. C. Smith, C. A. Sable, M. M. Echko, L. B. Wilner, H. E. Olsen, et al., "Global, regional, and national burden of congenital heart disease, 1990-2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017," Lancet Child Adolesc. Health, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 185–200, 2020
K. E. Best and J. Rankin, "Long-term survival of individuals born with congenital heart disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis," J. Am. Heart Assoc., vol. 5, no. 6, p. e002846, 2016.
D. Srivastava and E. N. Olson, "A genetic blueprint for cardiac development," Nature, vol. 407, no. 6801, pp. 221–226, 2000.
S. Zaidi and M. Brueckner, "Genetics and genomics of congenital heart disease," Circ. Res., vol. 120, no. 6, pp. 923–940, 2017.
C. Ferencz, J. D. Rubin, R. J. McCarter, J. I. Brenner, C. A. Neill, L. W. Perry, et al., "Congenital heart disease: prevalence at livebirth. The Baltimore-Washington Infant Study," Am. J. Epidemiol., vol. 121, no. 1, pp. 31–36, 1985.
R. Kuciene and V. Dulskiene, "Selected environmental risk factors and congenital heart defects," Medicina (Kaunas), vol. 44, no. 11, pp. 827–832, 2008.
L. D. Botto, A. Correa, and J. D. Erickson, "Racial and temporal variations in the prevalence of heart defects," Pediatrics, vol. 107, no. 3, p. E32, 2001.
S. M. Becker, Z. Al Halees, C. Molina, and R. M. Paterson, "Consanguinity and congenital heart disease in Saudi Arabia," Am. J. Med. Genet., vol. 99, no. 1, pp. 8–13, 2001.
M. M. Nabulsi, H. Tamim, M. Sabbagh, M. Y. Obeid, K. A. Yunis, and F. F. Bitar, "Parental consanguinity and congenital heart malformations in a developing country," Am. J. Med. Genet. A, vol. 116A, no. 4, pp. 342–347, 2003.
N. Albesher, S. Massadeh, S. M. Hassan, and M. Alaamery, "Consanguinity and congenital heart disease susceptibility: insights into rare genetic variations in Saudi Arabia," Genes (Basel), vol. 13, no. 2, p. 354, 2022.
J. T. Shieh, A. H. Bittles, and L. Hudgins, "Consanguinity and the risk of congenital heart disease," Am. J. Med. Genet. A, vol. 158A, no. 5, pp. 1236–1241, 2012.
F. Rahim, A. Ebadi, G. Saki, and A. Remazani, "Prevalence of congenital heart disease in Iran: a clinical study," J. Med. Sci., vol. 8, no. 6, pp. 547–552, 2008.
Başpinar, S. Karaaslan, B. Oran, T. Baysal, A. M. Elmaci, and A. Yorulmaz, "Prevalence and distribution of children with congenital heart diseases in the central Anatolian region, Turkey," Turk. J. Pediatr., vol. 48, no. 3, pp. 237–243, 2006.
A. Bassili, S. A. Mokhtar, N. I. Dabous, S. R. Zaher, M. M. Mokhtar, and A. Zaki, "Congenital heart disease among school children in Alexandria, Egypt: an overview on prevalence and relative frequencies," J. Trop. Pediatr., vol. 46, no. 6, pp. 357–362, 2000.
R. Subramanyan, J. Joy, P. Venugopalan, A. Sapru, and S. Al Khusaiby, "Incidence and spectrum of congenital heart disease in Oman," Ann. Trop. Paediatr., vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 337–341, 2000.
R. Smitha, S. C. Karat, D. Narayanappa, B. Krishnamurthy, S. N. Prasanth, and N. B. Ramachandra, "Prevalence of congenital heart diseases in Mysore," Indian J. Hum. Genet., vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 11–16, 2006.
F. Bitar, M. Arabi, Z. Bulbul, G. Nemer, Y. Jassar, F. F. Bitar, and Z. Abdul Sater, "Congenital heart disease research landscape in the Arab world: a 25-year bibliometric review," Front. Cardiovasc. Med., vol. 10, p. 1332291, 2024.
T. Farhat, Z. Abdul-Sater, M. Obeid, M. Arabi, K. Diab, S. Masri, et al., "Research in congenital heart disease: a comparative bibliometric analysis between developing and developed countries," Pediatr. Cardiol., vol. 34, no. 2, pp. 375–382, 2013.
J. S. K. Murala, T. R. Karl, and A. T. Pezzella, "Pediatric cardiac surgery in low- and middle-income countries: present status and need for a paradigm shift," Front. Pediatr., vol. 7, p. 214, 2019.
A. Saxena, "Status of pediatric cardiac care in developing countries," Children (Basel), vol. 6, no. 2, p. 34, 2019.
S. A. Joda, M. N. Taatosh, and N. H. Fakhir, "Spectrum of congenital heart diseases in children: a single private hospital experience in Baghdad, Iraq," Eur. J. Med. Health Res., vol. 3, no. 5, pp. 216–226, 2025.
S. Alaani et al., "Demographic aspects of congenital heart disease in Fallujah Maternity and Children Hospital, Fallujah City, Anbar, west of Iraq," Asian J. Immunol., 2023.
S. T. A. Alaani, F. S. Alkubaisy, and A. A. Merie, "Epidemiological and clinical aspects of congenital heart disease in Fallujah Maternity and Children Hospital, Iraq," Iraq Med. J., vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 46–49, 2023.
Z. R. Al-Ani, "Association of consanguinity with congenital heart diseases in Al-Ramadi maternity and children's teaching hospital, western Iraq," JCEC, vol. 4, pp. 1–6, 2013.
A.M. Mohammad, "Outcomes of congenital heart diseases in Duhok, Kurdistan Region of Iraq," South East Eur. J. Public Health, 2024.
G. Acharya, V. Sitras, J. M. Maltau, L. B. Dahl, P. I. Kaaresen, T. A. Hanssen, et al., "Major congenital heart disease in Northern Norway: shortcomings of pre- and postnatal diagnosis," Acta Obstet. Gynecol. Scand., vol. 83, no. 12, pp. 1124–1129, 2004.
R. Farhadi Hassankiadeh, A. Dobson, S. Rahimi, A. Jalilian, V. J. Schmid, and B. Mahaki, "Spatial distribution and birth prevalence of congenital heart disease in Iran: a systematic review and hierarchical Bayesian meta-analysis," Int. J. Health Policy Manag., vol. 13, p. 7931, 2024.
M. M. Al-Fahham and Y. A. Ali, "Pattern of congenital heart disease among Egyptian children: a 3-year retrospective study," Egypt. Heart J., vol. 73, p. 7, 2021.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Central Asian Journal of Medical and Natural Science
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
