Cargando…
The Burden of Neonatal Referrals on a Pediatric Cardiology Service: A Local Center Experience
Background: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a common occurrence in live births, with some exhibiting critical congenital heart disease; therefore, cardiology services should be available around the clock to ensure timely diagnosis and management. This study aims to describe the workload and the ne...
Autores principales: | , , , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Cureus
2023
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10641434/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37965404 http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.47011 |
_version_ | 1785146766788657152 |
---|---|
author | Al Maddallah, Walaa S Bhat, Yasser A Al Mesned, Abdulrahman Al Qwaee, Abdullah Hassan, Mohammad Ahmad Al Akhfash, Ali |
author_facet | Al Maddallah, Walaa S Bhat, Yasser A Al Mesned, Abdulrahman Al Qwaee, Abdullah Hassan, Mohammad Ahmad Al Akhfash, Ali |
author_sort | Al Maddallah, Walaa S |
collection | PubMed |
description | Background: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a common occurrence in live births, with some exhibiting critical congenital heart disease; therefore, cardiology services should be available around the clock to ensure timely diagnosis and management. This study aims to describe the workload and the need for pediatric cardiac services in a maternity hospital for newborn referrals. Moreover, the study describes the indications for neonatal cardiology consultations. Methods: The prospective cohort study was conducted over four months, from January to April 2022, in the Prince Sultan Cardiac Center Al Qassim region of Saudi Arabia. Prince Sultan Cardiac Center's pediatric cardiology department provides cardiac services to the Maternity and Children Hospital Buraidah Al Qassim. Out of the total 2,606 live births during the study period, the cardiology team evaluated 352 neonates. Neonates less than 30 days of age who were born in the maternity hospital were enrolled in the study. The outborn babies referred from other centers as suspected congenital heart disease for whom a cardiac evaluation was done were excluded. In addition, babies assessed in the emergency room and born elsewhere were excluded. Only new consultations have been considered, excluding follow-up consultations. Statistical analysis: Data about patients' demographic, clinical and echocardiographic findings were recorded on Google Forms and converted to a Google spreadsheet. The Google spreadsheet's inbuilt statistical software was used for analysis. Categorical data were presented as percentages, and numerical data as median and range. Results: The cardiology team evaluated 352 neonates from 2,606 live births over four months, accounting for 13.5 per 100 live births. The median weight was 2.8 kilograms, with a 0.5-4.3 kilogram range. Males comprised 187 (53%), and females comprised 165 (47%). Moreover, full-term, preterm, and post-term accounted for 236 (67%), 113 (32%), and 3 (0.8%) of patients, respectively. The common indications for neonatal cardiac referral were respiratory distress 60 (17%), infants born to diabetic mothers 50 (14%), abnormal fetal echocardiogram 49 (13.9%), family history of abortion or neonatal death 31 (8.8%), and congenital anomalies 30 (8.5%). Systolic murmur was the commonest clinical finding that prompted cardiology referrals 82 (23.2%), followed by desaturation 38 (10.7%) and dysmorphic features 31 (8.8%). Among the congenital cardiac defects, an isolated atrial septal defect (ASD) was seen in 66 (18.5%), isolated patent ductus arteriosus in 50 (14.2%), and ventricular septal defect in 21 (5.9%). Moreover, 13 (4.4%) lesions were critical CHDs. Finally, 27 (7.6%) had a diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension. Conclusion: Knowing the burden of neonatal cardiac assessment on pediatric cardiology services in any maternity center may help the healthcare authorities to allocate resources and optimize the delivery of cardiac services among the neonatal population. Properly allocating pediatric cardiologists to the needed centers may optimize neonatal cardiac services. Moreover, it may decide on the number of pediatric cardiologists that need to be trained each year to meet the requirements of neonatal cardiac services. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10641434 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | Cureus |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-106414342023-11-14 The Burden of Neonatal Referrals on a Pediatric Cardiology Service: A Local Center Experience Al Maddallah, Walaa S Bhat, Yasser A Al Mesned, Abdulrahman Al Qwaee, Abdullah Hassan, Mohammad Ahmad Al Akhfash, Ali Cureus Pediatrics Background: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a common occurrence in live births, with some exhibiting critical congenital heart disease; therefore, cardiology services should be available around the clock to ensure timely diagnosis and management. This study aims to describe the workload and the need for pediatric cardiac services in a maternity hospital for newborn referrals. Moreover, the study describes the indications for neonatal cardiology consultations. Methods: The prospective cohort study was conducted over four months, from January to April 2022, in the Prince Sultan Cardiac Center Al Qassim region of Saudi Arabia. Prince Sultan Cardiac Center's pediatric cardiology department provides cardiac services to the Maternity and Children Hospital Buraidah Al Qassim. Out of the total 2,606 live births during the study period, the cardiology team evaluated 352 neonates. Neonates less than 30 days of age who were born in the maternity hospital were enrolled in the study. The outborn babies referred from other centers as suspected congenital heart disease for whom a cardiac evaluation was done were excluded. In addition, babies assessed in the emergency room and born elsewhere were excluded. Only new consultations have been considered, excluding follow-up consultations. Statistical analysis: Data about patients' demographic, clinical and echocardiographic findings were recorded on Google Forms and converted to a Google spreadsheet. The Google spreadsheet's inbuilt statistical software was used for analysis. Categorical data were presented as percentages, and numerical data as median and range. Results: The cardiology team evaluated 352 neonates from 2,606 live births over four months, accounting for 13.5 per 100 live births. The median weight was 2.8 kilograms, with a 0.5-4.3 kilogram range. Males comprised 187 (53%), and females comprised 165 (47%). Moreover, full-term, preterm, and post-term accounted for 236 (67%), 113 (32%), and 3 (0.8%) of patients, respectively. The common indications for neonatal cardiac referral were respiratory distress 60 (17%), infants born to diabetic mothers 50 (14%), abnormal fetal echocardiogram 49 (13.9%), family history of abortion or neonatal death 31 (8.8%), and congenital anomalies 30 (8.5%). Systolic murmur was the commonest clinical finding that prompted cardiology referrals 82 (23.2%), followed by desaturation 38 (10.7%) and dysmorphic features 31 (8.8%). Among the congenital cardiac defects, an isolated atrial septal defect (ASD) was seen in 66 (18.5%), isolated patent ductus arteriosus in 50 (14.2%), and ventricular septal defect in 21 (5.9%). Moreover, 13 (4.4%) lesions were critical CHDs. Finally, 27 (7.6%) had a diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension. Conclusion: Knowing the burden of neonatal cardiac assessment on pediatric cardiology services in any maternity center may help the healthcare authorities to allocate resources and optimize the delivery of cardiac services among the neonatal population. Properly allocating pediatric cardiologists to the needed centers may optimize neonatal cardiac services. Moreover, it may decide on the number of pediatric cardiologists that need to be trained each year to meet the requirements of neonatal cardiac services. Cureus 2023-10-14 /pmc/articles/PMC10641434/ /pubmed/37965404 http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.47011 Text en Copyright © 2023, Al Maddallah et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Pediatrics Al Maddallah, Walaa S Bhat, Yasser A Al Mesned, Abdulrahman Al Qwaee, Abdullah Hassan, Mohammad Ahmad Al Akhfash, Ali The Burden of Neonatal Referrals on a Pediatric Cardiology Service: A Local Center Experience |
title | The Burden of Neonatal Referrals on a Pediatric Cardiology Service: A Local Center Experience |
title_full | The Burden of Neonatal Referrals on a Pediatric Cardiology Service: A Local Center Experience |
title_fullStr | The Burden of Neonatal Referrals on a Pediatric Cardiology Service: A Local Center Experience |
title_full_unstemmed | The Burden of Neonatal Referrals on a Pediatric Cardiology Service: A Local Center Experience |
title_short | The Burden of Neonatal Referrals on a Pediatric Cardiology Service: A Local Center Experience |
title_sort | burden of neonatal referrals on a pediatric cardiology service: a local center experience |
topic | Pediatrics |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10641434/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37965404 http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.47011 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT almaddallahwalaas theburdenofneonatalreferralsonapediatriccardiologyservicealocalcenterexperience AT bhatyassera theburdenofneonatalreferralsonapediatriccardiologyservicealocalcenterexperience AT almesnedabdulrahman theburdenofneonatalreferralsonapediatriccardiologyservicealocalcenterexperience AT alqwaeeabdullah theburdenofneonatalreferralsonapediatriccardiologyservicealocalcenterexperience AT hassanmohammadahmad theburdenofneonatalreferralsonapediatriccardiologyservicealocalcenterexperience AT alakhfashali theburdenofneonatalreferralsonapediatriccardiologyservicealocalcenterexperience AT almaddallahwalaas burdenofneonatalreferralsonapediatriccardiologyservicealocalcenterexperience AT bhatyassera burdenofneonatalreferralsonapediatriccardiologyservicealocalcenterexperience AT almesnedabdulrahman burdenofneonatalreferralsonapediatriccardiologyservicealocalcenterexperience AT alqwaeeabdullah burdenofneonatalreferralsonapediatriccardiologyservicealocalcenterexperience AT hassanmohammadahmad burdenofneonatalreferralsonapediatriccardiologyservicealocalcenterexperience AT alakhfashali burdenofneonatalreferralsonapediatriccardiologyservicealocalcenterexperience |