The incidence of congenital heart disease in Azerbaijan: prospective epidemiological study

Abstract

Background The incidence of Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) in Azerbaijan has never been calculated with a prospective study, using Echo-2D as a study method

Aim First prospective epidemiology study calculating incidence and types of CHD in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Population-method From June 2016 to August 2018, 2570 term neonates were screened in 2 major maternity units. The screening was randomized to equal females/males with no known previous obstetric alert regarding CHD. Scanning was done by two teams of pediatric cardiologists in echo-2D. Each team was ‘blinded’ to the findings of each other. All scans were recorded, and a third senior physician reevaluated them.

Results From 2570 term neonates of the general population we detected 47 CHD’s. From them, 17 were c-CHD and 5, s-CHD. 25 were simple or moderate complex non-cyanotic CHD. The estimated incidence was 1.828%. 17/47 (36.2%) were cyanotic. The incidence of simple CHD was 25/47(53.2%). Analysis of the specific anatomy is presented in table 1.

Conclusions This first-ever prospective epidemiology study in Azerbaijan involving a cohort equal to 1.65% of the annual living births of the country, estimated a high incidence. This is among the highest reported globally. The amount of critical & cyanotic CHD was 46.8% and 36.2% respectable. These high numbers are possibly related to an isolated population and conjugated marriage customs of the country. This represents a public population health burden.