Congenital Heart Malformations in Iraq, a Review

Background: Heart malformations are among the commonest indications for admission to hospital and may causes mortality of children. There is a need to highlight this important medical issue as there is no review article on this subject in Iraq.

Aim: This study aims to focus on this diseases in allover Iraq by reviewing the articles that have been published previously among different Iraqi academic scientific journal (IASJ) and concerned with the congenital heart diseases in various Iraqi governorates.

Materials and Methods: Reviewing of the publications were conducted in accordance of that already described. Identification of available articles were done via applying search on IASJ (from 1997 to 2022). The keywords of ‘congenital heart disease was used in the search. Comprehensive full text articles in English were enrolled, while those published locally in periodic journals were excluded as there they were difficult to access them. Data extraction from selected publications was done in an independent manner via specialized design including the title of the study, the date of publication, area of research, topic of research, number of cases enrolled, and major results.

Results: Most cases are diagnosed at infancy. Male predominance was recognized in Ventricular septal defect (VSD), Tetrolgy of Fallot (TOF), stenosis of Aorta, transposition of the great arteries (D), and aorta's coarctation, Female supremacy was recognized in atrio ventricular canal defect, Patent ductus arteriosus-PDA, atrial septal defects-ASD, and stenosis of pulmonary artery. The acyanotic type was more frequent than those accompanied with cyanosis as reported by many studies. A study from Basra Province has registered the highest incidence of CHD throughout analysis of data of patients with CHD which constitutes 57(40%) out of 1414 examined children. The reviewing of data from several articles in IASJ revealed a concern with correlation of CHD with other congenital disorders. Few researches were conducted on the treatment of CHD. Several works in Iraq tried to discuss the issue from other points of views as the nutritional status and feeding problems, the impact on the growth, and even the oral and dental health.

Conclusions: According to the results of all reviewed Iraqi studies, there is a need for establishing a high standard centers with providing equipments for pediatric surgical operations .A well prepared staff is required for such type of operations. In addition, a well cooperation between the pediatricians and cardiac surgeons to achieve accurate diagnosis, managements, and follow up is needed.