A Cross Sectional Study on Prevalence and Pattern of Murmur and CHD in Children of District Shopian

Abstract

Background: Congenital heart defects (CHD) are among the common congenital birth defects with an estimated
incidence of 8–10/1000 live births which can be easily identified on occasions on routine checkup visits on
auscultation and confirmed by echocardiography. With the advanced diagnostics and corrective therapies for
CHDs, the percentage of individuals surviving to adulthood has increased over past few decades, it is imperative
to identify the disease at the earliest.
Methods: This was a hospital-based outpatient study conducted in the pediatric OPD of the hospital in children
aged 12 years or less with no previous known heart disease. Children were seen for any murmur or features
of heart disease. A total of 14000 patients were attended with 100 having murmur and an echocardiogram was
advised.
Results: Of the 14000 children seen in the OPD, 100 had a murmur on auscultation accounting for about 0.714%
patientsi.e 7 per 1000 children. Of the 100 patients with murmur, 60 patients came back with an echocardiogram of
which38 had an abnormal echo corresponding to 63.33% cases. Hence the murmur was present in approximately
7 per 1000 children and the incidence of heart lesions among those with murmur was 63.33% with VSD & ASD in
combination as the most occurring lesion.
Conclusion: The prevalence of murmur in children was approximately 7 per 1000 and the sensitivity of auscultation
in finding a heart disease was 63.33%. However, a large study over a greater period of time with a good follow up
of the patients is recommended.