Volume : VIII, Issue : I, January - 2018

Nutritional profile of children with congenital heart disease.

Dr. Samata Kela, Dr. Aarti Kinikar

Abstract :

 

Introduction: Cardiac malformations are undoubtedly responsible for malnutrition, which may range from mild under nutrition to severe failure to thrive (FTT). Inadequate weight at the time of surgery delays the surgical intervention. The present study was  planned to assess the nutritional status of children with congenital heart diseases and the factors contributing to under nutrition among them. This will help in counselling parents regarding nutrition, child’s diet and feeding habits modification enabling them to make their child  fit for an early  surgical intervention.

Aims and objectives: To assess the nutritional status of children with congenital heart disease (CHD) admitted to a tertiary care teaching hospital.

Materials and methods: This was a single center observational study conducted over 1 year on 160 patients of Echocardiography confirmed CHD, admitted to pediatric unit of an urban tertiary care teaching hospital. Three  anthropometric, seven biochemical and  haematological markers along with daily dietary calculations, developmental history (gross motor, fine motor, language and social adaptive milestones) and radiological  parameters were measured in all patients and the Data analysis was performed for the whole group and for subgroups to determine the influence of cyanosis and different types of congenital heart diseases on the state of nutrition, using appropriate statistical tests (mean, SD, minimum, maximum and 95% of confidence interval).

Results & Conclusions: The children with CHD were  markedly undernourished with both weight       (87 %) and height (83%) affected in the cyanotic group, while in the acyanotic patients the weight (72%) was more affected than height (58%). Mid upper arm circumference was below the fifth centile in 20% of children. Four of the 7 biochemical and haematological measurements were abnormal in 64% patients. Recurrent infections and undernutrition lead to development of anaemia (30%) in children with acyanotic heart disease.

Keywords :

Article: Download PDF   DOI : 10.36106/ijar  

Cite This Article:

Dr. Samata Kela, Dr. Aarti Kinikar, Nutritional profile of children with congenital heart disease., INDIAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH : Volume-8 | Issue-1 | January-2018

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