Incidence of congenital heart disease in Qatari children.

We surveyed the incidence of congenital heart disease in 49887 native live born children in the period between 1984 to 1994 in Qatar. Each child with clinically suspected congenital heart disease underwent echocardiographic examination. Magnetic resonance imaging, cardiac catheterization and surgical intervention were done at the discretion of the patient's pediatric cardiologist.

Acute rheumatic fever in an Arabian Gulf country--effect of climate, advantageous socioeconomic conditions, and access to medical care.

An eleven-year study of the incidence and consequences of acute rheumatic fever was carried out in a country in which a uniform climate together with national characteristics of insularity, wealth, and unrestricted access to free medical care contribute prominently to the epidemiologic milieu. Study subjects were 86 children, aged four to fourteen years, satisfying criteria for acute rheumatic fever. Study methods included clinical evaluation, standard laboratory studies, and echocardiography.

Acute myocardial-infarction-like findings with myocarditis in infancy. A case report.

A four-and-a-half-month-old infant suffered sudden circulatory collapse early in the course of a brief febrile illness. The electrocardiogram initially appeared normal; an abrupt change indicative of extensive myocardial infarction occurred following stabilization. Coronary arterial anatomy and flow by echocardiography and angiography were normal except for the finding of single origin of the entire coronary system from the left sinus of Valsalva.

Double-chambered right ventricle and Down's syndrome: a proposed new association.

Twenty-two cases of double-chambered right ventricle studied in detail from two different centers comprise the study population. Of these, 5 have trisomy-21 Down's syndrome; these five cases, comprising nearly 25% of the entire study group, were essentially evenly divided between the two centers. This unexpectedly high percentage of Down's syndrome associated with such an unusual cardiovascular malformation, albeit among a small population, is likened to the currently recognized and similar association of Down's syndrome and atrioventricular cushion deformities.

Occurrence of valvar heart disease in acute rheumatic fever without evident carditis: colour-flow Doppler identification.

Objective: To determine the frequency of occurrence of mitral and aortic valvar regurgitation in rheumatic children in whom there was no evidence of carditis acutely or at an earlier attack.

Design: Colour flow Doppler imaging was used in a non-randomised study of sequentially admitted children who met the criteria for acute rheumatic fever without clinically evident carditis and patients in whom the disease was quiescent after a previous attack of rheumatic fever. Two separate control groups were used for comparison of the echocardiographic findings, and a group of patients with confirmed rheumatic carditis was included for comparison of acute phase and antistreptococcal reactants.