Congenital Heart Disease among Neonates in a Neonatal Unit of a Tertiary Care Hospital

Objective: To determine the pattern of Congenital Heart Disease among neonates in a neonatal unit of a tertiary care hospital. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted at Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Pak Emirates Military Hospital, Rawalpindi Pakistan, from Aug 2020 to Jan 2021. Methodology: A total of 287 participants were enrolled in the study using non-probability consecutive sampling. Echocardiogram was used as a tool to diagnose congenital heart disease. Results: Among 287 neonates, the mean weight was 2.36±0.73 kg with 49.5% being males and 50.5% females. Most of the neonates were delivered by Lower Segment Cesarean Section (227, 79.1%), while rest (60, 20.9%) were by spontaneous vaginal delivery. Neonates were mostly born at full term (159, 55.4%), followed by preterm (99, 34.5%), and early term (29, 10.1%). Only 34(11.8%) of the neonates showed any Congenital Heart Disease. Ventricular Septal Defect was the most common Congenital Heart Disease defect (15, 44.1%), followed by Patent Ductus Arteriosus (10, 29.4%) and Teratology of Fallot (4, 11.8%), while least common was Pulmonary Atresia (1, 2.9%). The relationship of Congenital Heart Disease with gender, mode of delivery, gestational age, and outcome of the neonate was found to be not significant. Conclusion: A small proportion of the neonates had Congenital Heart Disease with no significant relationship with gender, delivery mode, gestational age, and outcome of the neonate.