[Congenital heart diseases in newborns and infants; early detection, differentiation and accuracy of clinical diagnoses (author's transl)].

In order to facilitate for the general physicians the making of a suitable selection of babies who are in the most urgent need of specialized treatment at cardiac centres, simple methods for diagnosing and qualifying congenital cardiovascular diseases were elaborated. The following "minor" criteria were taken for suspecting a CHD: 1) cardiorespiratory distress following birth, 2) sequentially repeated Apgar score below normal, 3) "pneumonia" symptoms with respiratory distress, dyspnoea and cyanosis, attacks of unconsciousness, 4) feeding difficulties, failure to thrive, inexplicable irritability, 5) presence of other congenital anomalies. The almost certain presence of serious heart disease should be recognized in children, showing the following "major" symptoms: 1) permanent cyanosis, pallor or greyish colour, 2) cardiorespiratory failure (resembling usually symptoms of pneumonia), 3) ECG patterns indicating ventricular hypertrophy signs, 4) other significantly abnormal ECG patterns (e.