Investigation of the Frequency and Type of Congenital Heart Diseases in Children with Gastrointestinal Anomalies

As congenital gastrointestinal diseases are pretty common and can lead to fatal consequences when combined with congenital heart diseases, we conducted a study in Iran to explore the relationship and prevalence of these two conditions. Our objective was to identify the types and frequency of congenital heart diseases in children who also have gastrointestinal anomalies.

This was a cross-sectional analytical study. The research population was the patients referred to the Gastrointestinal Clinic of Hazrat Masoumeh Children's Subspecialty Hospital during the 2011-2017. In this study, the echocardiography in the patients’ files performed by a pediatric heart specialist was examined, and in the next step, the patients were divided into two groups with and without heart disorders. Gastrointestinal abnormalities were also recorded in the relevant checklist. Finally, the recorded information was entered into SPSS software version 22, and Chi-square and Fisher exact tests were used to compare the qualitative findings. The significant level for all tests was considered to be 0.05.

The average age of the children in this study was 7.93±7.74 months. 105 boys (54.7%) and 87 girls (45.3%) were examined. 167 children (87%) had cardiovascular abnormalities and 25 children (13%) had no abnormalities. The most common types of cardiovascular abnormalities were 69 (35.9%) septal defects, 36 (18.8%) atrial septal defects, and 22 (11.5%) pulmonary valve stenosis. The least frequent abnormalities were cardiomyopathy in three (1.6%) and ventricular inter-atrial septal defects along with atrial septal defects in one (0.5%) patient There was not a significant correlation between congenital heart diseases and frequency of closed anus, rectovaginal fistula, Hirschsprung, anal stenosis, rectal prolapse, perianal fistula, esophageal atresia, pyloric hypertrophy, intestinal obstruction, annular pancreas, biliary atresia, diaphragmatic hernia, Meckel's diverticulum.(P>0.05). A significant relationship was found only between omphalocele and pyloric hypertrophy with the presence of cardiovascular disorders (P<0.05).

The results showed that congenital heart diseases have a high prevalence in infants with gastrointestinal anomalies, so cardiac examination is mandatory in all infants with gastrointestinal anomalies.