Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28164029›Full record

ArticleTranslational pediatrics2017

Trends in pediatric echocardiography and the yield for congenital heart disease in a major cardiac referral hospital in Cameroon.

Clovis Nkoke, Eric Balti, Alain Menanga, Anastase Dzudie, Alain Lekoubou, Samuel Kingue, Andre Pascal Kengne

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Translational pediatrics, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.2field-weighted citation impact, top 47% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  5. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 5 institutions in 4 countries.

Clovis NkokeFaculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Yaounde 1, Yaounde, Cameroon.
Eric BaltiFaculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Brussels Free University-VUB, Brussels, Belgium.
Alain MenangaFaculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Yaounde 1, Yaounde, Cameroon.
Anastase DzudieDepartment of Cardiology, Douala General Hospital, Douala, Cameroon.
Alain LekoubouMedical University of SC, Department of Neurology, Charleston, USA.
Samuel KingueFaculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Yaounde 1, Yaounde, Cameroon.
Andre Pascal KengneNon-Communicable Diseases Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council of South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa.
Université de Yaoundé I · CMMedical University of South Carolina · USSouth African Medical Research Council · ZAUniversity of Douala · CMVrije Universiteit Brussel · BE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCongenital heart disease (CHD) is a common condition in children in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where it is associated with poor outcomes. Diagnosis of CHD in SSA depends essentially on echocardiography, which is available only in few urban referral centers. Our aim was to assess time changes in the pattern of referral for pediatric echocardiography and the subsequent diagnosis of structural CHD in a major SSA city.

methodsAll pediatric echocardiography performed between 2004 and 2013 at the echocardiography laboratory of the Yaounde General Hospital were reviewed. The primary indication of the study and the presence of structural CHD were recorded.

resultsBetween 2004 and 2013, 9,390 echocardiograms were performed and 834 (8.9%) children aged 1 day to 15 years underwent echocardiography at the center, and 227 (27.2%) cases of definite structural CHD were diagnosed, with 123 (54.2%) in boys. The most frequent indications for echocardiography were heart murmurs (40%) and the suspicion of CHD (37.4%). The commonest CHD was ventricular septal defect (VSD) (30%) with tetralogy of Fallot being the most frequent cyanotic heart lesion (5.3%). The proportion of pediatric echocardiography decreased from 13.3% in 2004-2005 to 6.1% in 2012-2013 (P=0.001) but not in a linear fashion (P=0.072 for linear trend).The diagnosis of structural CHD increased from 25.1% in 2004-2005 to 27.1% in 2012-2013. This increase however was non-significant (P=0.523) and did not follow a linear trend (P=0.230).

conclusionsThe pattern of referral for pediatric echocardiography at this center has changed over time, but diagnosis of structural CHD has remained the same. Improving access to this diagnostic procedure and subsequent treatment of diagnosed CHD will help improving the outcome of the disease in this setting.

Indexed as

CamerooncongenitalEchocardiographyheart diseasetrends

Identifiers

PMID28164029
PMCPMC5253264
OpenAlexW2574228127

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.