Congenital Heart Disease in Mexico

Abstract

Consistent with the mission of the World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery to promote health care for children with congenital heart disease all around the world, a Mexican Association of Specialists in Congenital Heart Disease (abbreviated in Spanish as AMECC) was created in Mexico in 2008. Our efforts were coordinated with those of the National Health Secretary with the objective being implementation of a national plan for regionalization of care for patients with congenital heart disease. To improve our knowledge related to technologic and human resources for management of congenital heart disease, we developed a national survey. Finally, a national database was created for collecting all Mexican centers' information related to congenital heart disease care in order to quantify the advances related to the proposed plans. The database utilized international consensus nomenclature. The aim of this article is to show the sequence of our actions in relation to direct accomplishments and the current status of congenital heart disease care in Mexico. This article emphasizes the main aspects of these actions: regionalization project implementation, national survey results, and cardiovascular pediatric surgical database creation. Knowledge of outcomes related to successful actions would be useful for those countries that face similar challenges and may lead them to consider adoption of similar measures with the respective adjustments to their own reality.

Risk factors for nosocomial infections after cardiac surgery in newborns with congenital heart disease

“…2 In 2008, a Mexican Association of Specialists in Congenital Heart Disease (abbreviation in Spanish AMECC) was created to implement a national plan for regionalization of care for patients with CHD. 3,4 Early diagnoses of CHD in fetuses and newborns, along with specialized cardiovascular surgeons and national referral centers, have improved the prognosis for neonates due to corrective surgery. In Mexico, approximately 50% of patients with cardiac defects undergo surgical repair, and 30% of them require open heart surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass.…”

Mortality trends from congenital malformations of the heart and the great vessels in children and adults in the seven socioeconomic regions of Mexico, 2000‐2015

“…In Mexico, a national plan has been implemented for the regionalization of the care of patients with CHD, which consists of the rational use of resources with emphasis on specialized medical care, to increase the number of cases treated, improve the quality of care, obtain optimal use of existing resources and, thereby, achieve a decrease in mortality of CHD …”

“…In children between 1 and 4 years old in 1990, it was ninth cause, in 2002 it passed to the third cause and has remained in that place since 2005. The total mortality from CHD of the pediatric population under 10 years old was 15 548 patients from 2004 to 2007, of which 83% corresponded to children <1 year of age …”

Análisis demográfico de una clínica de cardiopatías congénitas del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, con interés en el adulto

“…En México, no existen bases de datos que registren de forma sistematizada su frecuencia, por lo que el cálculo se basa en una prevalencia estimada de 8-10 por cada 1000 recién nacidos (RN), y extrapolado a la natalidad, se esperan de 18,000 a 20,000 casos nuevos por año2 .El avance en el conocimiento de las técnicas quirúrgicas, los métodos de perfusión y la atención perioperatoria ha permitido que la sobrevida actual a 45 años sea del 85%, sin embargo, se precisa de un sistema de atención temprano que permita que las cirugías sean realizadas en las primeras etapas de la vida3 .En México, la realidad es que existe una centralización de los hospitales con el recurso humano y tecnológico para el tratamiento de estos enfermos, en 2006, había 9 centros hospitalarios (7 de ellos en la Ciudad de México) con las características para realizar cirugías en pacientes pediátricos. En la actualidad se espera que existan 21 hospitales distribuidos de acuerdo a la natalidad inferida o pronosticada en el territorio nacional4 .…”