title: [Temporal variation and geographical distribution: congenital heart defects in the Comunitat Valenciana].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study is to estimate the prevalence of congenital heart defects (CHD) in the Comunitat Valenciana (CV) in children less than one year old and identify whether there are temporal and geographic variations within this prevalence.
  
  
  METHODS
  The minimum basic data set from hospital discharge reports was used to select patients, who were born between 1999-2008, were less than one year old, and who lived in the CV with at least one hospital admission in which the primary diagnosis and/or any of the events were coded as CHD (codes 745-747 of the International Classification of Diseases 9th Revision Clinical Modification). The first hospital discharge report with CHD was selected, using the health card number to detect duplication. The prevalence and 95% confidence intervals were calculated, and the prevalence ratio (PR) and smoothed PR was obtained for each municipality to identify geographic patterns.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the period 1999-2008 there were 6.377 patients younger than one year with some CHD, representing the 43.2% of cases of congenital anomalies. The prevalence was 134.3 per 10.000 live births (95% CI: 131.1-137.6). There was a significant increase in the prevalence, from 115.8 in the 1999-2003 period to 149.5 in the 2004-2008 period. A higher risk was identified in the north of the CV, and in some municipalities of the province of Alicante, in the south.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The observed increase in CHD agrees with the findings in other countries and it can be explained, at least in part, by improved diagnostic techniques. The geographic pattern identified requires a more detailed analysis that could explain the geographic variations found.
authors.affiliation: Área de Investigación sobre Enfermedades Raras, Centro Superior de Investigación en Salud Pública, Valencia, España.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cavero Carbonell
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Zurriaga
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pérez Panadés
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Barona Vilar
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Martos Jiménez
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Alta del paciente; Cardiopatías congénitas; Congenital heart defects; Cross-sectional studies; Estudio transversal; Mapas; Maps; Patient discharge reports