[Prevalence and distribution of congenital heart diseases in Indre-et-Loire. Evaluation of prenatal diagnosis (1991-1994)].
Congenital heart diseases are the most frequent malformation at birth. New technologies have improved diagnosis procedures (echocardiography and Doppler). The aim of our study was to evaluate the prevalence of congenital heart diseases, their different types, and the detection rate of antenatal diagnosis.


METHODS
A retrospective study was performed for all infants with congenital heart disease (CHD), born between January 1st 1991 and December 31st 1994, and for all fetuses which died after disruption of pregnancy, in Indre-et-Loire (a French country). In all cases, CHD diagnosis was confirmed with echocardiography and Doppler.


RESULTS
CHD prevalence in newborns was 9.8% and 10.4% for the total population including dead fetal material. A high proportion of septal defects (64.8%) was observed with muscular, isolated and small forms (< 3 mm) in 70.2% of cases. The prevalence of great vessels transposition (0.15%), left ventricular hypoplasia (0.11%), and atrioventricular septal defect (0.11%), were lower than in previous studies. The performance of antenatal diagnosis was estimated at 40.5% for the four years; the prevalence of detectable CHD was only 1.4/1000. The atrioventricular septal defect was the most frequently detected.


CONCLUSIONS
Relative high prevalence of congenital heart disease in this French county is due to the high level of small septal defects. Prevalence of detectable CHD remains low, which explains in part the difficulties of improving the antenatal diagnosis.
Cloarec
S
S
Service de pédiatrie A, hôpital Gatien-de-Clocheville, CHU, Tours.
Magontier
N
N
Vaillant
M C
MC
Paillet
C
C
Chantepie
A
A
D000028:Abortion, Induced; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death / Q000453:epidemiology; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006343:Heart Septal Defects / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal