Clinical Characteristics of Children with Pulmonary Vein Abnormalities in a Tertiary Centre in an Urban Community in Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Pulmonary vein abnormalities are rare. Prompt intervention is needed to salvage
the children affected. There are very few reports on occurrence of pulmonary vein abnormalities
among Nigerian and African children. The aim of this study is to report the clinical characteristics
of Nigerian children with Pulmonary vein abnormalities.
Method: A prospective study involving consecutive subjects diagnosed with pulmonary veinous
abnormalities using echocardiography at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital
(LASUTH), Nigeria between January 2007 and December 2014. Data were analysed using
Microsoft Excel program supplemented by Megastat statistical package. Statistical significance
was set at p-value<0.05.w
Results: There were 21 cases of pulmonary venous abnormalities, which accounted for 2.07%
of cases of congenital heart disease and 6 per 100,000 of the total children that presented in
LASUTH during the study period, with male to female ratio of 0.8:1. Sixteen (76.2%) of the
studied subjects presented in infancy and five (23.8%) cases presented above one year of age.
The commonest indication for echocardiography was cyanosis, other mode of presentation
were breathlessness, recurrent respiratory tract infection, congestive cardiac failure and murmur.
Total anomalous pulmonary venous return accounted for 66.7%, Cortriatriatum was seen
in 6 subjects (28.6%) and a case of Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Connection (PAPVC)
was seen (4.8%). Most of the subjects had other associated cardiac defects.
Conclusion: The prevalence of pulmonary vein abnormalities among Nigerian children is comparable
to that in other parts of the world. High degree of suspicion is needed to enable prompt
diagnosis and intervention.