Abstract Background: Paediatric cardiac care is evolving in Africa. Most children with cardiac diseases are often attended to by general paediatricians. There is a paucity of data on the pattern and outcome of cardiac diseases among African children. Objective: This study aimed to study the clinical profile and outcome of African children seeking cardiac care in a tertiary care hospital in India. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. African children seen at the Paediatric Cardiology Department of the Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Madras Medical Mission, Chennai, India, over two years from October 1, 2010, to September 30, 2012, were enrolled in the study consecutively. Result: Eighty-three children were seen during the period under review. The age range of these children was 1 month to 16 years, with a mean age of 3.9 years (± 3.8 years). Forty were males and 43 were females, with a male-to-female ratio of 1:1.1. Eighty (96.4%) patients had congenital heart disease (CHD), and 3 (3.6%) patients had acquired heart disease. Fast breathing was the most common symptom seen (75.9%), and cardiac murmur (95.2%), with abnormal second heart sound (85.5%), were the most common signs. Tetralogy of Fallot was the most common CHD seen (30.0%), followed by ventricular septal defect (10.0%). Presence of cyanotic CHD was significantly associated with prolonged duration of ventilation χ 2 (1) = 5.43, P = 0.02 and paediatric intensive care unit stay χ 2 (1) = 5.63, P = 0.02. There was a strong positive correlation between duration of ventilation and post-operative mortality ( r = 0.75, P < 0.001, 95% confidence interval = 0.63–0.96). Pericardial effusion (12.2%), low cardiac output state (10.9%), pulmonary artery hypertensive crisis (8.5%) and pleural effusion (8.5%) were the most common immediate post-operative complications seen. Eighty-two children had intervention; only one patient (1.2%) died within the immediate post-operative period. Conclusion: Structural heart diseases in children are the most common in Africa as they are in other parts of the World. There is a need to improve the standard of paediatric cardiac care in Africa through the establishment of cardiac care facilities.
Waziri et al. (Thu,) studied this question.