[A cross-sectional study of congenital heart disease among children aged from 4 to 18 years at different altitudes in Qinghai province, China].

Objective: The epidemiological characteristics of congenital heart disease (CHD) in children aged from 4 to 18 years were investigated in Qinghai province.

Methods: Altogether 288 066 children inhabiting at 6 prefectures and 3 counties were examined by the following three steps: pre-screening, re-examination and diagnosis with color Doppler. And the entity distribution was analyzed while the differences were compared by age, gender, altitudes and nationalities respectively.