title: [Cardiac evaluation in children with suspected heart disease. Preliminary results in 2000 patients].
abstract: Two thousand consecutive children have been evaluated for suspected heart disease in a 27-month period. The main reasons for referral were: murmur (70%), precordial pain (9.5%), suspicion of arrhythmia (8.5%) and breathless (5%). Five hundred and six (25%) cases did not complete the investigation and the results were not computed. A final diagnosis was obtained based on the reason for referral and the main conclusions were: 1) a high incidence of normality was found: murmur (83%), pain (98%), arrhythmia (97%) and breathless (94%); 2) heart disease is unlikely when other referral reasons were analyzed; 3) 14% of the children were considered abnormal and the necessity of therapeutic procedures was 0.8%. A pediatric cardiology outpatient clinic in a public setting seems to be justifiable in the region, due to the high current demand.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Puericultura, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto-USP, Ribeirão Preto, SP.
authors.forename: F T
authors.initials: FT
authors.lastname: Amaral
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Granzotti
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Nunes