DOI: 10.14260/jemds/2015/642 ORIGINAL ARTICLE J of Evolution of Med and Dent Sci/ eISSN- 2278-4802, pISSN- 2278-4748/ Vol. 4/ Issue 26/ Mar 30, 2015 Page 4442 AN ASSESSMENT OF RISK FACTORS FOR CONGENITAL HEART DISEASES IN CHILDREN OF AGE GROUP 0-10 YEARS: A CASE CONTROL STUDY Ankit Kumar 1 , Rakesh Gupta 2 , Prabhat Kumar 3 , Mukti Sharma 4 HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: Ankit Kumar, Rakesh Gupta, Prabhat Kumar, Mukti Sharma. “An Assessment of Risk Factors for Congenital Heart Diseases in Children of Age Group 0-10 Years: A Case Control Study”. Journal of Evolution of Medical and Dental Sciences 2015; Vol. 4, Issue 26, March 30; Page: 4442-4447, DOI: 10.14260/jemds/2015/642 ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Congenital heart diseases (CHDs) affect approx 6–8 infants per1000 live births have multifactorial origin. Various studies attribute number of maternal (e.g. family history of congenital heart diseases, consanguinity, febrile illness, co-morbidities like diabetes or hypertension) and fetal factors (prematurity, LBW, chromosomal abnormality) for development of CHDs. There is paucity of data in India; hence this study was conducted to evaluate risk factors in causation of CHDs in children. METHOD: It was a case control study conducted from Mar to Aug 2012 among children up to 10 years of age attending tertiary care hospital in Maharashtra, India. A total of 75 cases of CHDs and equal number of matched controls were included in the study. RESULTS: The mean age of cases was 19 months and that of controls 18 months. Male to female ratio was 1.5:1 among cases and 1.7:1 among controls. VSD was the commonest cardiac anomaly found in 37(49.33%) cases. In neonatal characteristics, cases had significantly increased number of prematurity and low birth weight as, compared to control(p=0.006), OR-3.25(95% CI 1.35-8.25) and(p<0.001), OR-3.86 (95% CI 1.85- 8.11) respectively. Twenty six (35%) children among cases were born of consanguineous marriage while 8(11%) in controls and association was found statistically significant [p<0.01, OR-4.44 (95% C.I=1.75-12.24)]. Similar associations were seen with family history of congenital heart diseases [OR 4.10(95% C.I=1.34-14.97), co-morbidities [p=0.02, OR- 2.7 (95% CI 1.1-6.93)]. CONCLUSION: Our study showed maternal factors like consanguinity, family history of congenital heart diseases, co-morbidities like gestational diabetes, hypertension and drug intake during pregnancy were significant underlying risk factors for development of CHDs in children. KEYWORDS: Congenital heart disease (CHDs), consanguinity, preterm, low birth weight, chromo- somal abnormality. INTRODUCTION: Congenital heart diseases (CHDs) are the most common birth defects accounting for 30% of all congenital abnormalities affecting 6-8 newborns per thousand live births. (1,2) The prevalence of CHDs ranges from 1 to 50. 89/1000 population in the world including India and the aetiology of majority of CHDs still remains unexplained. (3) A number of studies have shown that CHDs follow multifactorial pattern of inheritance with certain maternal and foetal factors, like parental consanguinity, maternal co-morbidities like diabetes, family history of congenital heart diseases, prematurity and low birth weight. (4-11) However a descriptive study carried out in Pakistan contradicts this theory. (5) Hence this study was undertaken to evaluate the role of various maternal, fetal and environmental risk factors in the development of congenital heart diseases. METHODS: The present study was a case control study carried out in children up to 10 years of age, having CHD, attending tertiary care hospital in Maharashtra, India, over the period of 5 months from