Morbidity and Prevalence of Congenital Heart Defects Among Children of Ukraine: Infl uence of Environmental Factors

Abstract

Introduction. Congenital heart defects (CHD) with perinatal pathologic conditions and diseases of the respiratory organs are currently occupying the leading places among the causes of infant mortality and disability in Ukraine and worldwide. Purpose. Study of the morbidity of the pediatric population of the country and the prevalence of congenital heart defects in children from the areas with radiological control territories (TRC) and other regions of Ukraine in the dynamics over the last 24 years. Our goal is to identify unfavorable trends and to develope the measures to protect the infant organism from adverse environmental factors, including radiation. Materials and methods. We performed the analysis of the incidence and prevalence of congenital heart defects among children from diff erent regions of Ukraine, including those contaminated after the Chernobyl accident. The methods of statistical evaluation, epidemiological analysis of materials of the Center of Medical Statistics of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine were used. Results and discussion. The rate of growth of the incidence of congenital heart disease in the last 24 years exceeded by 5.3 times the indicator of the overall morbidity of the pediatric population of Ukraine. Thus, the increase of CHD morbidity rates in the last 24 years among children from the regions with radiological control territories was higher (+218.0%) than among children from other regions of the country (+179.2%) and higher than national incidence of children with congenital heart defects (+190.0%). The number of CHD among children aff ected by the Chernobyl accident was slightly lower than in other groups (+73.9%). In all 9 regions with radiological control territories, a high incidence of pediatric congenital heart disease has been observed and maintained over the last 24 years. This rate is higher by 26.1% than the corresponding incidence of CHD among children living in the areas without radiological control territories and higher by 15.9% than nationwide morbidity. At the same time, the incidence of CHD morbidity among the children aff ected by the Chernobyl disaster was slightly lower than the national incidence rate.