Occurrence and Antenatal Detection of Congenital Heart Malformations: Data from a Tertiary Obstetric Centre in Western Romania

Introduction

Congenital heart defects (CHDs) are the most frequent group of major congenital anomalies and impose a disproportionate burden on neonatal services. Antenatal detection determines where and how an affected newborn is delivered, yet reported detection rates differ several-fold between European countries. We aimed to quantify the postnatal occurrence and the antenatal detection of CHDs in a tertiary obstetric center in Western Romania and to place both figures in a comparable international context. Material and Methods: Retrospective observational study of all 10,113 births registered at the “Pius Brînzeu” County Clinical Emergency Hospital, Timișoara, between 2018 and 2022. Newborns with at least one cardiac lesion recorded on indication-based postnatal echocardiography were identified from the hospital electronic record. Interatrial communications and ductal patency recorded at the neonatal-index examination were counted inclusively and are analyzed separately from structural defects. A defect was classified as antenatally detected when it had been reported at any prenatal ultrasound scan and was subsequently confirmed postnatally. Proportions are reported with Wilson score 95% confidence intervals (CIs), separately at the level of the newborn and at the level of the individual lesion.