Congestive Cardiac Failure among Nigerian Children; Pattern and Outcome

Background: Congestive Cardiac Failure (CCF) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality among children. It results from various causes, but there are only very few reports from the African sub-region.

Objectives: This study aimed to define the current trends in the prevalence and causes of CCF among children admitted to the Pediatrics Department of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).

Patients and Methods;: This prospective study was conducted on all the consecutive patients admitted with diagnosis of CCF between January 2011 and December 2012. The data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel. Mean, median, and standard deviation were calculated as necessary. Continuous and discrete data were analyzed using student t-test and chi-square test, respectively. P < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.

Results: Out of the 5705 children admitted to the Department of Pediatrics of LASUTH, 156 ones (2.73%) had CCF. The subjects’ age ranged from 48 hours to 144 months, with the mean age of 37.1 ± 31.94 months. The common causes of CCF were Acute Lower Respiratory Tract Infections (ALRTI) (32.0%), Congenital Heart Diseases (CHD) (31.4%), and severe anemia (28.8%). Other less common causes were septicaemia (3.84%), acquired heart diseases (3.2%), and renal disorders (0.6%). The rate of mortality was 17.3%, and more than 90% of the deaths occurred within 48 hours of admission.

Conclusions: CCF remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Pediatric practice in Nigeria, with ALRTI, CHD, and severe anemia being the common causes.