Prevalence of Factors Associated with Congenital Heart Disease

 Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common congenital disorder in neonates. Many factors are associated with the occurrence of the CHD, including genetic factors, teratogenic exposure and several other unrecognized factors.

 This study aims to investigate the role of several potential factors associated with the occurrence of CHD.

 This study was conducted as a cross-sectional case-control study, in Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex, Tehran, Iran. A total of 1338 known cases of CHD, diagnosed by echocardiography or angiography and 1201 healthy children as the controls were included in this study. Factors that could have an association with CHD were investigated by a questionnaire from all participants.

 Maternal age above 30 years (P-value < 0.001), positive parents’ consanguinity (P-value < 0.001) and previous maternal history of abortion (P-value < 0.001) was significantly higher among patients with CHD; furthermore, positive history of CHD among siblings of the known cases of CHD was higher than healthy ones (P-value < 0.001). The mean birth weight in case and control group were 3 (+ 0.648) and 2.9 (+ 0.707) kilograms, respectively. The maternal age in 983 (73.4%) cases and 960 (79.93%) controls was below the 30 years, the maternal age for other participants was above the 30 years (P-value < 0.001).

 All factors except the history of stillbirth, maternal underlying disease and drug use during pregnancy in the case group were significantly different with the control group. It seems that the causes of CHD in Iran are most commonly related to the hereditary genetic factors, and the increased maternal age, drug use, and underlying diseases in the mother are a matter of less importance.