Congenital heart disease (CHD) in low-and-middle income countries (LMIC) is often characterized by late presentation resulting from inadequate screening and healthcare access in these regions. Accurate estimates of the burden of CHD among school children are often lacking. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and distribution of CHD among school children in two communities (urban and semi-urban) in south western Nigeria. Using clinical assessment and portable echocardiography, 4107 school children aged 5 years to 16 years in Lagos, Nigeria, were selected using a multistage sampling procedure and screened for CHD. Diagnosis of CHD was made after echocardiography. Children identified with CHD were referred to a tertiary hospital for appropriate cardiac care. The 4,107 children screened had a mean age of 11.3 ± 2.7 years and 53.7% were females. Twenty seven children had echocardiography-confirmed CHD, representing a prevalence of CHD among school children in Lagos, Nigeria of 6.6 per 1000 children. Acyanotic CHD constituted 96.3% of detected cases. Two children diagnosed with CHD (Tetralogy of Fallot and severe pulmonary valve stenosis respectively) had successful intervention. The prevalence of previously undiagnosed CHD among school children in Lagos Nigeria is substantial and highlights gaps in the health care system and school health programs. Echocardiographic screening of school children provides an opportunity for missed early diagnosis and treatment of CHD and reduces the prevalence of first-diagnosed CHD in adulthood. Therefore, focused clinical examination of school children followed by echocardiography is a strategy that could bridge this diagnostic and treatment gap in CHD.

中文翻译：

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尼日利亚拉各斯小学生的先天性心脏病：患病率和诊断差距。

低收入和中等收入国家（LMIC）的先天性心脏病（CHD）通常表现为这些区域筛查和医疗服务不足而导致的迟发性表现。通常缺乏对小学生中冠心病负担的准确估计。这项研究的目的是确定尼日利亚西南部两个社区（城市和半城市）学龄儿童中CHD的患病率和分布。使用临床评估和便携式超声心动图，通过多阶段采样程序选择了尼日利亚拉各斯的4107名5岁至16岁的学龄儿童，并进行了CHD筛查。超声心动图检查后诊断为冠心病。确定患有冠心病的儿童被转诊至三级医院接受适当的心脏护理。筛查的4,107名儿童的平均年龄为11.3±2.7岁，平均年龄为53岁。7％为女性。27名儿童接受了超声心动图确认的冠心病，在尼日利亚拉各斯的学龄儿童中，冠心病的患病率为每千名儿童6.6名。cyan色性冠心病占检出病例的96.3％。两名被诊断为冠心病（分别为法洛氏四联症和严重肺动脉瓣狭窄的儿童）的干预成功。尼日利亚拉各斯的学龄儿童中以前未被诊断出的冠心病患病率很高，突出了卫生保健系统和学校卫生计划中的差距。对学校儿童进行超声心动图筛查为错过CHD的早期诊断和治疗提供了机会，并降低了成年后首次诊断为CHD的患病率。因此，