Is Decline Possible in Congenital Heart Defects by Adjusting Avoidable Risk Factors?

Abstract

Introduction: Congenital heart defects (CHD) are the leading causes of birth defects-associated morbidity and mortality with incidence variable with geographic locale, race, family history and gender of the baby. Material and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on 96 infants after ethical approval; infants of both genders with diagnosis of CHDs were registered. After complete history and physical examination type of anomaly observed was confirmed by echocardiography. Data was analyzed by using SPSS 21.0 Chi square test was applied for comparison of categorical variables, p<0.05 was considered significant. Results: During study period total 96 patients were examined. Significant association of various types of CHDs with cousin marriage, lack of folic acid intake and positive family history were observed on Pearson chi-square statically significant p-value (<0.01) was observed shown in tables. Conclusion: Further studies on modifiable risk factors on big sample size will be very helpful in decreasing the load of CHDs, and patients can also be facilitated with early diagnosis and management.