Serum Iron Profile in Children with Congenital Heart Disease Attending a Tertiary Care Hospital

Open Access

Abstract

Background: Congenital heart disease is the most common congenital anomaly and has been associated frequently with malnutrition and hematologic complications, particularly iron deficiency and IDA. This study was done to assess the serum iron profile in children with CHD attending a tertiary care hospital. Methods & Materials: This cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2023 to June 2024 among 91 children aged 1 month to 12 years with echocardiographically confirmed CHD at the Institute of Child and Mother Health, Dhaka. Serum iron, ferritin, and total iron-binding capacity were measured, and iron deficiency and IDA were defined using the standard age-specific ferritin and haemoglobin criteria. Data analysis was done by using SPSS version 26, and a p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The mean age of participants was 12.7 months; 51% were male. Acyanotic CHD accounted for 78% of cases, with ventricular septal defect being the most common lesion (39.56%). Malnutrition was highly prevalent, with 51.6% of children wasted and 39.6% stunted. The mean serum iron, ferritin, and TIBC were 57.59 ± 34.49 µg/dl, 125.25 ± 141.34 ng/ml, and 322.15 ± 71.85 µg/dl, respectively. Iron deficiency was present in 53.5% of acyanotic and 65% of cyanotic CHD cases. Ferritin deficiency was also higher in cyanotic CHD (70%) compared to acyanotic CHD (56.3%). Conclusion: This study demonstrates a high prevalence of iron deficiency in children with congenital heart disease, as evidenced by low serum iron and ferritin levels in the majority of children and increased TIBC in many. While there was a trend towards a higher rate of deficiency in the cyanotic as compared with the acyanotic patients, this did not reach statistical significance.