title: An epidemiological study of paediatric pulmonary hypertension in Turkey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present study aims to evaluate the epidemiological characteristics of paediatric pulmonary hypertension within the entire Turkish population over a period of 5 years using the registry of the National Health Insurance System.
  
  
  METHODS
  All individuals aged <18 years who were admitted to a Turkish hospital for the first time between 2009 and 2013 with a discharge diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary hypertension and secondary pulmonary hypertension were identified.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall annual incidence of idiopathic pulmonary hypertension during childhood was 11.7 cases/million, whereas the overall annual incidence of secondary pulmonary hypertension during childhood was 9.5 cases/million. There was a gradual and significant increase in the annual incidence of idiopathic pulmonary hypertension and that of secondary pulmonary hypertension during the 5-year study period (p=0.001 for both). In the years 2012 and 2013, idiopathic pulmonary hypertension was significantly more frequent in children aged <2 years when compared with children aged above 2 years (p=0.002 for both). The male to female ratio was 1.2:1 for idiopathic pulmonary hypertension, whereas the female to male ratio was 1.1:1 for secondary pulmonary hypertension during childhood.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The incidence of paediatric pulmonary hypertension in Turkey is higher than those reported for the Western populations. Moreover, no female dominance could be observed. These discrepancies may be attributed to the differences in the study design, study cohort, timing of the study, and the definitions adopted for pulmonary hypertension classification.
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Pediatric Cardiology,Afyon Kocatepe University Medical School Hospital,Afyonkarahisar,Turkey.
authors.forename: Ayhan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pektas
authors.affiliation: 2Department of Pharmacology,Afyon Kocatepe University Medical School,Afyonkarahisar,Turkey.
authors.forename: Bilgehan M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Pektas
authors.affiliation: 3Department of Pediatric Cardiology,Gazi University Medical School Hospital,Ankara,Turkey.
authors.forename: Serdar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kula
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016021:Epidemiologic Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Epidemiology; incidence; paediatric; pulmonary hypertension