The incidence of congenital heart disease in Johannesburg. A 5-year study of liveborn infants at the Queen Victoria Maternity Hospital.

An analysis is presented of the incidence of congenital heart disease among 21810 live births at the Queen Victoria Maternity Hospital, Johannesburg, over the 5-year period 1966 1970. Cases discovered before discharge from hospital, as well as those subsequently detected when attending the Transvaal Memorial Hospital for Children, are included. There were 141 children with congenital heart disease, and of these 42 (300/0) were discovered after discharge from the maternity home. The over-all incidence of 6,5 per 1 000 live births is almost certainly an underestimate. Deaths in the neonatal period numbered 26 (mortality 18,4%). The 5 commonest cardiac lesions were ventricular septal defect, patent ductus arteriosus, coarctation of the aorta syndrome, ventricular septal defect with pulmonary stenosis, and atrial septal defect. These accounted for 75"10 of all the cases. Only 2 instances of isolated valvular pulmonic stenosis and a single case of transposition of the great arteries were diagnosed during the 5-year period. The significance of these observations is discussed.