Facts about congenital heart disease
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death, with a mortality rate of 32% of all global deaths. CVD is an umbrella term for all heart and blood vessel diseases.
Congenital heart diseases are heart abnormalities that arise during the formation of the heart during intrauterine life. They are diverse, ranging from the simplest to the most complex. For the most part, they have repercussions on the child's growth and sometimes present an incompatibility with the child's survival.
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Each year, around 140 million babies are born globally [1a]; of these 1.4 million are born with CHD. Ninety percent of those born with CHD are born in a place with inadequate resources for pediatric cardiac care [1b].
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Childhood heart disease, among which we have congenital heart disease, is a public health problem in Africa because of the difficulties of diagnosis and management that these pathologies represent. These difficulties are linked to the lack of suitable technical platforms and the low socio-economic level of the majority of the population of sub-Saharan Africa [2, 3].
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Congenital heart disease is one of the most common birth defects in children. Their overall prevalence is estimated at 8 per 1000 ​​live births [4]. In Europe, data from the European Birth Defects Registry reported 12.45 per 1000, 7.61 per 1000, 8.47 per 1000 and 8.98 per 1000 ​​live births, respectively, in Switzerland, France, Belgium and Germany [5]. In the United States of America, the prevalence of congenital heart disease is estimated to be between 2 to 10 per 1000 live births [6].
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In Africa, a study carried out in Bamako (Mali) in a hospital environment reported a number of 225 cases of congenital heart disease recorded between 1980 and 1990 in the cardiology department of the Point G National Hospital [7].
However, the absence of a register of congenital malformations in several African countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), does not allow for precision to establish the prevalence of congenital heart diseases both at continental and national levels [9].
A study conducted at the Provincial Hospital of North Kivu in the DRC found a prevalence of 2.08 % of congenital heart disease (35/1675) between 2011 and 2013 [10]. While congenital heart disease is the subject of early screening (ante or neonatal) in wealthy countries, in Africa and more particularly in the DRC, screening for congenital heart disease still comes up against several obstacles, particularly the lack of qualified personnel.
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Management of CHD requires significant resources, namely, highly developed infrastructure, equipment and highly skilled professionals who need years of training. This makes cardiovascular care in children very costly and needs a long time to be established.
Alicia & Joyce Foundation contributes to capacity building to enable each child to achieve their full potential
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References
1a. World-Death-and-Birth-Rate. Available from: https://statisticstimes.com/demographics/world-death-and-birth-rate.php
1b. Zheleva B, Atwood JB. The invisible child: childhood heart disease in global health. The Lancet. Jan 2017;389(10064):16-182. Somnoma J.B.T et coll., Les cardiopathies de l’enfant au CHU SouroSanou de Bobo-Dioulasso : aspects échographiques et thérapeutiques, PAMJ, 2016, [PubMéd]
3. Georges A.B.B.N. et coll., Prévalence des cardiopathies infantiles symptomatiques au centre hospitalier régional de Louga au Sénégal, CVJAfrica, 26 (4), Pages e1-e5, 2015
4. Zuhkle L. et coll., Congenital heart disease and rheumatic heart disease in Africa : recent advances and current priorities, HeartJnl, 99: Pages 1554-1561, 2013
5. Addor M.C et Lausanne, Prévalence des cardiopathies congénitales dans le canton de Vaud et dans le réseau européen durant la période de 1989 à 2003, Pediatrica, 16 (5): Page 19, 2005
6. Richard F. et coll., Epidemiology of congenital heart disease in the USA, American heart journal, 127 (4): Pages 110-113, 1994
7. Fomba M., Cardiopathies congénitales au Service de cardiologie de l’hôpital national du point G, Thèse Méd. Bamako, N°19, 1999.
8. Coulibaly A., Cardiopathies juvéniles des enfants de 0 à 10 ans au service de cardiologie de l’hôpital Gabriel Touré et de l’hôpital mère-enfant de Luxembourg du 1er janvier 2006 au 31 décembre 2008, Thèse Méd. Bamako, 2005
9. Toni K.L. et coll., Malformations congénitales à Lubumbashi : à propos de 72 cas observés et plaidoyer en faveur du développement d’un registre national des malformations congénitales et d’un Centre national de référence de Génétique humaine, PAMJ, 2012, [PubMed]
10. Bitwe M.R, Nduwayo A, Dhembu ; Les difficultés de la prise en charge des cardiopathies congénitales et leurs conséquences sur l’évolution des patients de 0 à 5 ans à l’hôpital provincial du Nord-Kivu, RMGL, 6 (4): Pages 12-16, 2015