Recurrence of Congenital Heart Disease in Cases with Familial Risk Screened Prenatally by Echocardiography

Objectives. To evaluate the recurrence of congenital heart disease (CHD) in pregnant women with familial risk who had been referred for fetal echocardiography. Material and Methods. 1634 pregnancies from 1483 women with familial history of CHD in one or more relatives were studied. Fetal cardiologic diagnosis was compared with postnatal findings at 6 months or at autopsy. Results. Total recurrence rate of CHD was 3.98%, 4.06% in single familial risk, 2.9% in double, and 5% in multiple risk. It was 3.5% in case of one previously affected child; 4.5% with 2 children; 5.2% with the mother alone affected and 7,5% with father alone affected and 3.5% with a single distant relative. Exact concordance of CHD was found in 21.5% and a partial concordance in 20% of cases. Conclusions. Our data show a higher recurrence rate of CHD than previously published data and high relative risk ratios compared to normal population.