Heart Disease Screening of Schoolchildren in Taiwan

Abstract

Intervention: A 2-level heart disease screening program was undertaken. Level 1 screening included a history questionnaire and phonocardiography and electrocardiography. Level 2 screening consisted of examination by a pediatric cardiologist of all children who had abnormal findings on level 1 screening. A control group comprised children whose level 1 screening results were normal. Children with abnormalities on level 2 screening were referred for a detailed cardiac evaluation. Main Outcome Measures: Previously unsuspected heart diseases. Results: Of 25 816 children undergoing the level 1 screening program, 5330 had positive findings, of whom 5235 underwent level 2 screening, along with 1104 children in the control group. The pediatric cardiologist referred 780 children to the hospital for full evaluation, including 18 controls and 114 patients with a previous diagnosis of heart disease. A total of 292 children, including 2 controls, had evidence of heart disease, which was previously unsuspected in 178 (61.0%). Excluding children with a previous diagnosis of heart disease, the sensitivity of the screening program was 82.6%. The specificity and the positive predictive value were 98.3% and 28.6%, respectively. Conclusion: The 2-level heart disease screening program has good sensitivity and detects asymptomatic but potentially life-threatening heart disease in some children.

Phonocardiography: new opportunities in the light of digital technologies

“…Первый уровень включал анкетирование, ФКГ и электрокардиографию [36]. Второй уровень включал об-следование детским кардиологом всех детей, у которых на первом уровне были выявлены отклонения от нормы.…”

Sudden Death in the Young

“…41 The first stage of the screening program consisted of history-taking, ECG, and phonocardiography. Approximately 3% of the total study population was referred for additional examinations.…”

Rheumatic Heart Disease in school going children: A cross-sectional epidemiological profile of Jajarkot, Nepal

“…To boot, the current statistics of RHD might reckon only a portion of a large burden of RHD with more RHD cases residing in rural setting which has not yet been covered by all these studies. Likewise, most of RHD demography are based on population-based birth defect registries or clinical symptoms guided diagnosis 5 . Limited population-based, large-sample study @ Nepalese Heart Journal.…”