Detection of cardiac problems among school children by health screening

A study was undertaken to assess the types of cardiac diseases and dysrhythmias in a healthy population of 651,794 school children who underwent general health screening between January 1981 to December 1986. Congenital heart lesions were diagnosed in 1159 (0.18 per cent), the majority being mitral valve prolapse (MVP; 0.08 per cent), small ventricular septal defects (VSD; 0.04 per cent), mild pulmonary stenosis (PS; 0.03 per cent), and small atrial septal defects (ASD; 0.02 per cent). Other lesions detected were patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), coarctation of aorta (CoA), Fallot's Tetralogy (FT) and total anomalous pulmonary venous drainage (TAPVD). Of these, five had surgical closure of ASD, eight and ligation of PDA, and one had correction for TAPVD. Cardiac dysrhythmias were seen in 350 patients; consisting of premature ventricular contractions (PVC) in 186, right bundle branch block (RBBB) in 132, atrial ectopics (AE) in 17, sinus node dysfunction in five, atrioventricular (AV) block in seven, Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome in two, and paroxysmal atrial tachycardia (PAT) in one boy. Associated congenital heart lesions were found in 110 patients. The cardiac screening programme has resulted in a significant detection of cardiac abnormalities among apparently healthy school children. Early detection of cardiac disease has resulted in early remedial measures to be taken and thus improved cardiological care.