Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 30, 2026
Pediatric Animal Model of Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation After Prolonged Circulatory Arrest
Published on: May 26, 2023
Pediatric cardiomyopathies over the last decade: a retrospective observational epidemiology study in a tertiary
Ola A Elmasry1, Terez B Kamel, Naglaa F El-Feki
1Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Abbassia, Cairo, Egypt.
Insights
Pediatric cardiomyopathy (CM) in Egypt is a rare but serious condition. This study analyzed 124 cases over a decade, revealing key demographic and clinical features and emphasizing the need for a national registry.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Cardiology
- Cardiovascular Diseases
- Genetics and Rare Diseases
Background:
- Pediatric cardiomyopathy (CM) is a life-threatening heart disorder with unknown causes.
- Limited data exists on childhood CM in Egypt due to the absence of a national registry.
- This study aimed to characterize pediatric CM in Egypt.
Purpose of the Study:
- To understand the demographic features of pediatric cardiomyopathy in Egypt.
- To describe the clinical presentation of childhood CM.
- To determine the frequency of different types of pediatric CM.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of medical files of children diagnosed with CM.
- Study period: 1997-2007.
- Inclusion of 124 pediatric CM cases from 1876 cardiac patients at Ain Shams University.
Main Results:
- Pediatric CM constituted 6.6% of cardiovascular cases seen at the clinic.
- The study included 73 boys (58.9%) and 51 girls (41.1%) with a mean age of 3.82 years.
- Parental consanguinity was noted in 19.4% of cases, and 6.5% had affected siblings.
Conclusions:
- Scarcity of CM data in Egypt necessitates a national registry.
- A registry would enable better assessment of the problem's scope and facilitate patient follow-up.
- A national registry would also aid in screening family members of affected children.
Background:
Pediatric cardiomyopathy (CM) is a rare, life-threatening disorder of unknown etiology. Data on CM in Egypt are scarce as there is no national registry. This study was an effort to understand the demographic features, clinical presentation, and frequency of different types of childhood CM in Egypt.
Materials And Methods:
Medical files of all children diagnosed with CM in the last decade (1997-2007) and referred to the Pediatric Cardiology Clinic at Ain Shams University, Children's Hospital (Cairo, Egypt), were reviewed. This study included 124 (6.6%) cardiomyopathic patient files from a total of 1876 cardiac patients that were followed up at the Pediatric Cardiology Clinic during the 10-year study period.
Results:
In the last decade (1997-2007), children with CM represented 6.6% of all children with cardiovascular diseases followed at the Pediatric Cardiology Clinic; 73 were boys (58.9%) and 51 were girls (41.1%), with a mean age of 3.82±3.99 years. Parental consanguinity was positive in 19.4% of patients and a history of preceding viral infection was present in one patient (0.8%). Eight patients had a similarly affected sibling (6.5%).
Conclusion And Recommendations:
Data on CM in Egypt are scarce, highlighting the urgent need for a national registry for CM (a) to allow more accurate assessment of the size of this problem, especially in children; (b) to minimize loss of follow-up data when patients move from one region to another; and (c) to allow screening of family members of a proband case.
Related Concept Videos
01:29Cardiomyopathy III: Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
01:29Cardiomyopathy V: Interprofessional Care
01:25Cardiomyopathy I: Introduction and Classification
01:30Cardiomyopathy II: Dilated Cardiomyopathy
01:29Cardiomyopathy IV: Restrictive Cardiomyopathy
01:29Cardiomyopathy VI: Nursing Management