Sadiq M AL-HAMASH, Amer Naes AMER, Kamal Ali Mohammed MAEROZY, Khalid A. KHALID
The Eurasian Journal of Medicine - 2026;58(1):1-7
Background: Early detection and risk stratification of congenital heart disease (CHD) are of utmost importance for timely management. This study aimed to report on CHD among patients in Baghdad, Iraq. Methods: This prospective study was conducted from September 1, 2022 to September 1, 2023 among 2221 patients of all age groups diagnosed with CHD. Results: This study analyzed 2221 patients with CHD, of whom 76.7% had acyanotic CHD and 23.3% had cyanotic CHD. The mean age was higher for acyanotic cases (81.3 months) than for cyanotic cases (25.6 months). Almost half (47.5%) of the diagnoses were made in infancy, and 10.9% were made in the neonatal period. Only 13.2% of the diagnoses were made in adulthood. Ventricular septal defect (VSD) was the most frequent lesion, mainly diagnosed in infancy, whereas atrial septal defect (ASD) was often recognized in adulthood (42%). Conclusions: This research indicates that acyanotic CHD prevails in Iraq, with VSD being the most common. More than half of the sample was diagnosed by the age of 2. A male predominance was observed throughout, indicating a need for early screening with gender consideration.
