PREVALENCE OF CONGENITAL HEART DEFECTS IN IRANIAN CHILDREN WITH DOWN’S SYNDROME: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this systematic review and the meta-analysis was to evaluate the Prevalence of congenital heart defects in Iranian children with Down’s syndrome.
Methods: The proposed protocol and the methods used in this systematic study were developed based on the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions and reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Observational studies conducted on the general population are attached and studies on specific populations (acute conditions, home care centers) were excluded.
Results: According to the results of the randomized method (95% CI), the overall congenital heart defects (ASD) prevalence rate among 221 persons was 16.7% (95% CI 11.8% - 21.5%), I2 = 40.4% and, the overall congenital heart defects (VSD) prevalence rate among 276 persons was 22.6% (95% CI 17.8% - 27.4%), I2 = 72.6.
Conclusion: This is very important to know that congenital heart anomaly is the most important cause of death in this patient, especially during their first two years of life. In other side, it should be considered that major studies have been done for examining timely treatment of congenital heart anomaly, in both medical and surgery forms. Many of them agree that timely treatment of this anomaly, particularly surgery, improve quality of life, extend lifespan, and reduce mortality and disability in these patients  Thus, it seems that timely diagnosis of heart anomaly and knowing the kind of congenital defects in patients with down syndrome are very important in choosing appropriate health care .          
Key words: Down’s syndrome, Congenital Heart Defects, Cardiac anomalies, Echocardiography