Background/Aim. Congenital heart defect (CHD) is the most common type of
birth defect and one of the leading causes of infant mortality. It can be
isolated or occurs as a part of many different syndromes. The reported
worldwide incidence of isolated CHD is between 70 and 120 per 10,000 live
births. In this study, we wanted to estimate the incidence of nonsyndromic
CHD in the Republic of Srpska and to compare our findings to the literature.
Methods. The fetuses, live-born and stillborn infants with CHD during 2015
and 2016 in the Republic of Srpska were analyzed using data from a
cross-sectional study. Results. The total incidence of CHD was 163.95 per
10,000 total births and the incidence of live born with CHD was 136.64 per
10,000. Diagnose was established prenatally in 8.09% of cases. The most
common type of defect was ventricular septal defect (45.63%), followed by an
atrial septal defect (31.40%), patent ductus arteriosus (7.44%) and
pulmonary valve stenosis (5.18%). Significant differences in incidence
between regions and between different maternal age groups were found.
Conclusion. The incidence of CHD in the Republic of Srpska is higher than in
other reports with marked heterogeneity between different regions. This
study provides baseline data for future monitoring of the risk factors
changes and the implementation of primary preventive measures.