Ahmed Muaaz Ali, Saqib Jalil, Wajahat Ali
Background: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a very common heart defect in the population of Pakistan. Globally, its prevalence is about 10/1000 live births. Objectives: Hence, this study was aimed at detecting congenital heart disease in infants in population of Pakistan. Methodology: This descriptive study was conducted at Sheikh Zayed Hospital Rahim Yar Khan during December 2018 to July 2019. 500 infants who visited OPD for different complaints were assessed for congenital heart disease with the help of echocardiography. Results: Out of 500 infants, 303 (18%) were confirmed with congenital heart disease. Among the confirmed cases, 62.5 percent were males and 37.5 % were females. 78 % of the cases were between ages 1 to 3 months. The patients came with different presenting complaints like respiratory infection (48 %), underweight (31 %) and cyanosis (4%). Majority of cases were that of acyanotic congenital heart disease (98%). Ventricular septal defect (77.9%) was the most common congenital heart disease detected, followed by patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) 11.5%, atrioventricular septal defect (ASD)7.9 %, teratology of Fallot (TOF) 0.9%, aortic stenosis2%. Conclusion: There is an utmost need to improve the efficacy of doctors of our pediatric OPDs to be able to detect heart murmur in our infant population. This can result in significant decrease in morbidity and mortality of congenital heart disease.