A study of nutritional assessment in paediatric patients with congenital heart disease in a tertiary care centre

Abstract

: Congenital heart disease refers to any anatomical defect in the heart or major blood vessels present in children at birth. CHD (congenital heart disease) occurs in round about 1% of live births in developed countries. In developing countries due to poor resources, delayed diagnosis and surgery for CHD leads to a vicious cycle of congestive heart failure and respiratory infections, resulting in a high prevalence of preoperative malnutrition in patients with CHD. The incidence of congenital heart disease at birth is variable, incidence figures use to range between 5-8/1000 live births before the introduction of echocardiography but due to better diagnosis in today’s era many more milder forms are being detected, so the current estimates range from 8-12/1000 live births.: To assess the nutritional status in patients with CHD using clinical evaluation, anthropometry.: It is a cross-sectional observational stud. In our study a total of 75 cases of congenital heart disease were examined in a period of 18 months: Out of 75 patients 56 (74.66%) were <=5years and male predominance were seen. Most of the patient were having Acyanotic CHD: That there are multiple factors that are responsible for malnutrition in children with CHD including, poor socioeconomic strata, already poor health conditions in the general population, recurrent hospitalizations and recurrent lower respiratory tract infections.