Frequency and Pattern of Congenital Heart Defects in Children with Down’s Syndrome

Background: Patients with Down’s syndrome are prone to have congenital heart defects. This study was conducted to evaluate the frequency of various congenital heart defects in children with Down’s syndrome in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province. Material & Methods: This descriptive study was conducted at Department of Pediatrics, Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar, from July 2011 to June 2012. Fifty-five phenotypically Down’s syndrome children born in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province, age 2 days to 13 years were included in this study. After detailed history and physical examination, all these patients were subjected to 2-dimentional echocardiography in addition to routine laboratory investigations. Results: Congenital heart defects were found in 31 out of 55 patients (56.36%). Among the affected patients, 19(61.3%) were males and 12(38.7%) females with male to female ratio of 1.5:1. Ventricular septal defect was the commonest defect (22.6%), followed by patent ductus arteriosus (19.4%), atrioventricular septal defect (19.4%), atrial septal defect (16.1%) and tetralogy of Fallots (6.4%). Conclusion: Congenital heart defects are common in children with Down’s syndrome. The commonest one is ventricular septal defect in our set-up. All children with Down’s syndrome should have a cardiac evaluation at birth.