609 Echocardiography and Its Role in the Diagnosis and Prognosis of Congenital Heart Disease in Children

The most important thing in the congenital heart disease evaluation is early diagnosis, because almost all CHD, even the most complicated ones, are now operable. Objective: To determine the frequency and pattern of CHD in our country and to underline the role of early diagnosis in the outcome of patients with CHD. Material and Methods: Retrospective study of children with CHD, examined at hospitalized at University Children's Clinic, Prishtina, from 2000 - 2006. Age from 1 mo to 18 years. Ecxept 2D color echocardiography, other non invasive techniques were also used for diagnosis: history, laboratory, ECG, chest X ray, pulse oximetry. Results: The number of children with CHD was 1671, including the simpliest to most complex CHD. According to cyanosis, there were 207 (12.4%) cyanotic patients, while 1464 (87.6%) have no cyanosis. The type of lesions were similar to those reported from other studies. The age when the diagnosis of CHD is performed was: Only 45% of children with CHD were diagnosed under the age of three years, the remaining 55% were diagnosed later, even at the age above ten years. It was probably the reason for a high number of complications in children with CHD, such as : pulmonary hypertension (3.5%) , heart failure (10%) and death (5.5%). Conclusion: Since echocardiography is sufficient for diagnosis of most CHD and has no adverse effects or hazards, echocardiography could be a routine in order to prevent late diagnosis of CHD and to escape complications.