Frequency of Congenital Heart Defects diagnosed by Fetal Echocardiography in Mashhad, Iran

Background: Congenital heart defect (CHD) is the most common type of congenital disorder, especially in the Asian population. However, there are no comprehensive studies assessing the prevalence of this disease in the Iranian population. Objective: This study aimed to determine the frequency of cardiac abnormalities with a focus on CHD diagnosed by fetal echocardiography in pregnant women. Methods: This cross-sectional study utilized the medical records of 635 pregnant women who referred to Imam Reza Hospital in Mashhad, Iran, for fetal echocardiography from 2012 to 2017. All medical records of mothers who referred to a pediatric cardiologist at the CHD center have been assessed in this study. The American Heart Association guideline was used to detect the risk of CHD. Data were analyzed in SPSS version 16. Results: The mean age of the pregnant women was 29.6±5.13 years and their mean gestational age was 23.5±5.9 weeks. The incidence of fetal cardiac abnormalities was highest in those aged between 26 to 31 years. Fetal cardiac abnormalities were reported in 33.22% of the women. Moreover, the frequency of intra-cardiac echogenic focus was estimated at 25.6% and the frequency values of the complex CHD and ventricular septal defect (VSD) were obtained at 21.76% and 8.05%, respectively. Conclusion: According to the obtained results from this study, fetal cardiac abnormalities were found in more than one-third of pregnant women. In addition, the intracardiac echogenic focus was the most common detected cardiac abnormality. The most prevalent detected CHDs were complex CHD and VSD. This indicates a likelihood that the CHD is more common among Asian populations.