Prevalence and Pattern of Congenital Heart Disease among Neonates in Gorgan, Northern Iran (2007-2008)

Objective: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common congenital anomaly in newborns. The aim of this longitudinal, hospital-based study was to evaluate the prevalence and pattern of CHD among Iranian newborns in Gorgan, Northern Iran.
Methods: 11739 live births in Dezyani hospital in Gorgan were screened for CHD, 2007 through 2008. Clinical examination, echocardiography, color Doppler and cardio catheterization were used as diagnostic tools. Clinical and demographic factors, namely sex, type of CHD and associated anomalies of diagnosed cases were recorded in a pre-designed questionnaire for analysis.
Findings: The overall prevalence rate of CHD was 8.6 per 1000 live births. This was 9.96 per 1000 male births and 7.34 per 1000 female births. It was 4.5 and 13.19 per 1000 in 2007 and 2008, respectively. ASD was the commonest lesion (2.64 per 1000), followed by VSD+ASD (1.28 per 1000) and PDA (1.28 per 1000). The rate of ASD in male and female was 3.02 and 2.26 per 1000 respectively. Parents of 40 (39.6%) babies were related. 39 (38.6%) couples were first cousins.
Conclusion: This study showed that the prevalence of CHD among live births in Gorgan is lower than reported in the studies for Middle East and European countries.