title: Prevalence of congenital heart defects in neuroblastoma patients: a cohort study and systematic review of literature.
abstract: Data on the prevalence of congenital heart defects (CHD) in neuroblastoma patients are inconsistent. If CHD are more common in neuroblastoma patients than in the general population, cardiac screening might be warranted. In this study we used echocardiography to determine the prevalence of CHD in a single centre cohort of surviving neuroblastoma patients. In addition, we performed a systematic review of the literature. Echocardiography was performed in 119 of 133 patients (89.5%). Only two patients (1.7%) had CHD. The prevalence of CHD was not significantly different from a previously published control group of 192 leukaemia patients examined by echocardiography (P = 0.49). Literature search revealed 17 studies, showing prevalence rates of CHD in neuroblastoma patients ranging from 0 to 20%. Prevalence was less than 3.6% in the majority of studies. Most studies lacked information on validity. We conclude that current evidence does not support standard cardiac screening in all patients with neuroblastoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Academic Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. k.vanengelen@amc.uva.nl
authors.forename: Klaartje
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: van Engelen
authors.forename: Johannes H M
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Merks
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.forename: Leontien C M
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Kremer
authors.forename: Manouk
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Backes
authors.forename: Marieke J H
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Baars
authors.forename: Heleen J H
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: van der Pal
authors.forename: Alex V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Postma
authors.forename: Rogier
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Versteeg
authors.forename: Huib N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Caron
authors.forename: Barbara J M
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Mulder
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016543:Central Nervous System Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009447:Neuroblastoma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence