Trends in diagnosis and prevalence of critical congenital heart defects in the Podkarpacie province in 2002–2004, based on data from the Polish Registry of Congenital Malformations

This paper presents results of data collection regarding congenital heart defects (CHD) for the Polish Registry of Congenital Malformations (PRCM) from the Podkarpacie province in 2002–2004. Routine methods (fetal echocardiography, clinical examination) and recently also unique methods (screening echocardiography and pulse oximetry) were used for early detection of critical cardiac malformations. Critical CHD were detected there in 107 newborns in 2002–2004, so the mean prevalence reached 1.71/1000. Within this group, death rate decreased from 8 deaths in 2002 to 2 deaths in 2004, mainly thanks to improved detection and treatment of CHD.