Open Access

ARTICLE

Prevalence of Congenital Heart Disease at Extremely High Altitudes in Tibet and the Establishment of a New Free Treatment Model

by Shuting Chang^1,2, Guanzhao Zhang^2,3, Nengjun Sun², Xinpeng Yuan⁴, Qingting Wang⁵, Lin Zhu⁶, Feiyue Zhang⁷, Yu Xiu⁴, Yang Dong⁸, Yonghong Chen⁹, Zhanpeng Zhao¹⁰, Xiao Liu⁴, Qiang Shao¹¹, Xiaofeng Xu¹², Anshun Wang¹³, Mengjiao Li¹⁴, Bo Li^2,*

1 Weifang Medical University, Weifang, China
2 Department of Cardiology, Shandong University Zibo Central Hospital, Zibo, China
3 Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, China
4 Department of Ultrasound, Shandong University Zibo Central Hospital, Zibo, China
5 Department of Anesthesiology, Shandong University Zibo Central Hospital, Zibo, China
6 Department of Anorectal Surgery, Shandong University Zibo Central Hospital, Zibo, China
7 Department of Obstetrics, Shandong University Zibo Central Hospital, Zibo, China
8 Department of Ultrasonography, Qilu Hospital Huantai Branch, Zibo, China
9 Department of Cardiology, Zichuan District Hospital, Zibo, China
10 Department of Cardiology, Zhoucun District Hospital, Zibo, China
11 Department of Cardiology, Zhangdian District Hospital, Zibo, China
12 Department of Cardiology, Boshan District Hospital, Zibo, China
13 Department of Ultrasound, Zibo Municipal Hospital, Zibo, China
14 Department of Ultrasound, Zibo First Hospital, Zibo, China

* Corresponding Author: Bo Li. Email:

Congenital Heart Disease 2022, 17(6), 709-716. https://doi.org/10.32604/chd.2022.018657

Received 08 August 2021; Accepted 25 October 2021; Issue published 11 October 2022

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to illustrate the prevalence of CHD by screening children in extremely high-altitude areas (over 4000 m to even 5000 m above sea level) and explore an aid model for early diagnosis and treatment for the Tibetan population. Methods: A total of 2242 students from different schools in Ngamring County, Xigaze city, Tibet from September 2019 to September 2020 were selected for screening. The students were examined through the inquiry of their current medical history and family history, cardiac auscultation and a physical examination, in order to screen out the suspected cases of CHD, and then the suspected cases were confirmed by cardiac color ultrasound examinations. After that, positive patients were be transferred to Shandong Province for free treatment. Results: The prevalence of CHD among children in Ngamring County was 3.70% (83 cases), which is the highest incidence rate ever reported. The most common type of CHD was patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), accounting for 55.42% of the total number of cases screened, followed by atrial septal defect (ASD) and ventricular septal defect (VSD), accounting for 28.92% and 12.05%, respectively. The prevalence of CHD in children at high altitude was significantly higher than that in children at low altitude. The children with CHD were transferred to Shandong Province for surgery, the operations were successful and their recoveries went well. Conclusions: The results show that high altitude is closely related to the prevalence of CHD, and the incidence in Ngamring County is much higher than that in previous reports.

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