ABSTRACT

The present study aims to emphasize the significance of cardiovascular system examination

The present study retrospectively surveys 284 children who were referred to the study center between January 2008 and December 2009 and in whom the diagnosis of congenital cardiac anomaly was delayed

The most frequently detected congenital cardiac anomaly was atrial septal defect (ASD, 33.1%) which was followed by patent ductus arteriosus (PDA, 19.0%), coarctation of aorta (CA, 10.6%) and ventricular septal defect (VSD, 9.2%) respectively. The most of the patients were from central Anatolia (72.5%), 15 of them were from southern Anatolia (10.6%) and 13 of them were from the Black sea region. Cardiac murmurs were detected at an average age of 8.0±5.2 years and the diagnosis of congenital cardiac anomaly was made after 6.6±4.9 years in average. The average age for detection of CA was found to be 9.2±4.7 years. The diagnostic delay span was significantly longer in the male children (p=0.003), children coming from the Mediterranean region (p=0.040) and children with CA (p=0.019). When compared with cyanotic malformations, non-cyanotic cardiac anomalies were diagnosed significantly later (p=0.001)

As health sector eagerly adopts the advanced technology, traditional methods of clinical evaluation are much ignored. However physical examination still preserves its importance as the simplest method in diagnosis of congenital cardiac malformations. Pediatricians can specify the cardiac anomalies as early as possible and help to avoid considerable financial loss by means of physical examination