Heart murmur in children less than 2 years-old: Looking for a safe and effective referral strategy

Introduction: Current guidelines in Spain recommend performing transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) in all children under 2 years of age with a heart murmur. In 2014, the American Paediatric Association published the first appropriate use criteria (AUC) for outpatient paediatric transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) to promote its cost-efficient use. The aim of this article is to analyse the AUC and other clinical factors as predictors of congenital heart disease (CHD) in children less than 2 years of age with a heart murmur, and to develop a safe and efficient referral strategy. Patients and method: Case–control study conducted with children less than 2 years of age, referred from Paediatric Primary Care to Paediatric Cardiology during a 4-year study. A predictive model for CHD was determined using multivariate analysis. Results: A total of 688 patients were included, with 129 (19%) cases of CHD. An age less than 3 months (adjusted odds ratio [ORa] 3.8 [1.5–8.4], p = 0.030) and fulfilling AUC (ORa 16.3 [9.4–28.3], p