Congenital Heart Diseases in Saudi Down Syndrome Children: Frequency and Patterns in Almadinah Region

Abstract

Congenital Heart Diseases (CHDs) occur in about 40-50% of neonates born with Down syndrome. Increased incidence of CHDs in children with Down syndrome in certain populations has been associated with widespread consanguinity. Up till now there is no explanation for why some Down syndrome patients are susceptible to CHDs. This study aims to evaluate the frequency and patterns of CHDs in Down syndrome children at Almadina province in the west of Saudi Arabia and compare it with other previously reported studies. The study included Down syndrome children referred to the pediatric cardiology clinic for screening of CHDs. Full history taking, pedigree analysis and clinical examination were done to all cases. Parental consanguinity was documented and echocardiography was done to assess the cardiac lesions. Out of 110 Down syndrome children, 45 (40.9%) had CHDs were selected. Parental consanguinity was present in 26/45 (57.8%). The most frequent lesion was AVSD (33.3%), followed by VSD (22.2%), then ASD (13.3%), PDA was present in 8.8% and TOF was diagnosed in one case. The most common combination of cardiac lesions in Down syndrome cases included in this study was ASD with VSD. Conclusion: The frequency of CHDs in Down syndrome children from Almadina province in the west of Saudi Arabia was similar to those reported worldwide. The most frequent lesion diagnosed in this study was AVSD. The CHDs were slightly more frequent in Down syndrome children born to consanguineous parents.

Congenital Heart Diseases in Down Syndrome Children at Albala Area, Saudi Arabia

“…Our results were going with the international studies in which AVSD was varies from 40-80% [17] and VSD 33.3% [20]. As seen in Table 3 in Saudi Arabia, like our study, the AVSD was the most common CHD type diagnosed in Almadina [11], VSD the most common was diagnosed in Aseer [12] and Riyadh [9], while PDA was the most common in Jeddah [10].…”

“…Prevalence of Congenital Heart Diseases (CHD) increased in the last 15 years, it was reported in Europe 8.2 per 1000 live birth [6]. The prevalence of CHD is about 40-50% in literatures (between 30-65%) in Down syndrome children [7,8], while it is between 40.9-86.8% in Saudi Arabia [9][10][11][12]. Atrio-ventricular septal defect (AVSD) is the most common cardiac anomalies associated with DS 54%, followed by ventricular septal defect (VSD), patent ductus arteriosus, and atrial septal defect (ASD) [7].…”

Prevalence of congenital heart diseases in children with Down syndrome in Mansoura, Egypt: a retrospective descriptive study

“…This is comparable to previous proportions from Egypt and Saudi Arabia. 14 , 16 Lower proportions of isolated CHD were reported in Nigeria, Libya, India and Mexico. 19 , 23 , 27 , 28 However, a much higher proportion of 90.3% of isolated CHD was reported in Pakistan.…”

“…Rates ranging from 40.9% to 61.3% were reported from Saudi Arabia. 16 – 18 The recent rates from Libya, Sudan and Iran were 45%, 43.1% and 50%, respectively. 2 , 19 , 20 Rates from other countries ranged from 43% to 58%.…”

“… 19 In Sudan, Saudi Arabia, India and Western countries AVSD, VSD and ASD were the most frequent. 10 , 16 – 18 , 20 – 22 , 24 , 28 In Iran and Korea, ASD, VSD, PDA and AVSD were the commonest. 2 , 25 However, in Pakistan and Mexico, VSD and PDA were the commonest.…”