Congenital cardiac malformations in pediatric necropsies: characteristics, associations and prevalence.
BACKGROUND
In Brazil, since 2001, the congenital abnormalities have represented the second cause of death in children younger than one year, with cardiovascular defects being responsible for 39.4% of these deaths.


OBJECTIVE
To establish the prevalence and the characteristics of the congenital cardiac malformations in pediatric necropsies performed in Hospital Regional da Asa Sul, Brasília, DF, Brazil, from January 1996 to December 2007.


METHODS
This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study that reviewed 1,591 necropsies performed from January 1996 to December 2007 and found 189 (11.9%) with congenital cardiac malformations, included in this study.


RESULTS
The cardiac abnormalities were observed mainly in the group of live births (117/61.9%), followed by the stillbirths (35/18.5%), the infant group (30/15.9%) and the preschoolers' group (7/3.7%), with no cases identified among school-aged children. The main alterations detected were: interatrial communication in 96 patients (27%), interventricular communication in 66 patients (18.5%) and patent ductus arteriosus in 51 (14.3%), with no predominance of either sex. In 133 patients (70.4%), the cardiopathies were multiple and in 96 (50.8%) they were associated with anomalies in other organs and systems; among these, 45 (23.8%) presented cardiopathies as syndrome components, especially trisomies, at all age ranges.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of the present study show a high prevalence of congenital cardiac anomalies in our country and distribution and association that were similar to the ones observed in developed countries. The high mortality associated to such anomalies highlights the need for more comprehensive research in order to identify the risk factors and seek the primary prevention of some of these defects.
Leite
Dinaldo de Lima
Dde L
Hospital de Base do Distrito Federal, Brasília, DF - Brazil.
Miziara
Hélcio
H
Veloso
Moema
M
D017677:Age Distribution; D001344:Autopsy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D050497:Stillbirth; D013577:Syndrome