Undiagnosed Cardiac Abnormalities Among School-Aged Children

Introduction: The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of undiagnosed congenital and acquired heart diseases among school-aged children. Materials and Method: The study population consisted of 4.370 children (2081 boys and 2289 girls) who were chosen from a total school-aged children population of 51,891 students (aged 7-15 years) (10.7 +/- 2.4) (8.4%). Results: In this population, a total of 11 (0.25%) children had been diagnosed and treated for structural cardiac abnormalities before the study. In the study period (after an assessment by a questionmaire), cardiac evaluation was needed in 405 (9.3%) children who were invited to the pediatric cardiology unit. Among them, a total of 153 (37.8%) children were admitted for further evaluation, and 21 (13.7%) were diagnosed as having undiagnosed congenital (12.4%) or acquired (1.3%) heart diseases. Five children with congenital heart diseases were treated by surgical or invasive techniques, and penicillin prophylaxis was begun in two patients with rheumatic heart disease. The most frequent congenital heart diseases were atrial septal defect and mitral valve prolapse among the admitted children. Conclusions: Some children still reach school age with undiagnosed congenital or acquired heart diseases. All children should be examined carefully at the time of school registration in order to diagnose and treat congenital and acquired heart diseases in an effort to prevent the occurrence of undesirable events during sports or social activities.