Patterns Of Malnutrition In Children With Cyanotic And Acyanotic Congenital Heart Disease.

Authors

  • Priyanka Amonkar
  • Nikita Lalwani
  • Jeetendra Gavhane
  • Nitin Kadam

Keywords:

Congenital heart disease, malnutrition, nutritional status, underweight, stunting, wasting, children

Abstract

Background: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a common congenital anomaly in children and is frequently associated with growth failure and malnutrition due to increased metabolic demands, feeding difficulties, recurrent infections, and chronic hypoxia.

Objectives: To assess the nutritional status of children with congenital heart disease and to compare patterns of malnutrition between cyanotic and acyanotic heart lesions.

Methods: This observational, analytical, cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital over a period of three years. Sixty-five children aged between one month and 18 years with echocardiographically confirmed congenital heart disease were enrolled. Anthropometric measurements including weight, height/length, and mid-upper arm circumference were obtained using standardized methods. Nutritional status was evaluated using weight-for-age, height-for-age, and weight-for-height indices based on WHO growth standards, along with IAP and Wellcome Trust classifications where appropriate. Statistical analysis was performed to compare nutritional parameters between cyanotic and acyanotic CHD groups.

Results: Among the 65 children with congenital heart disease studied, malnutrition was highly prevalent with over four-fifths of the study population exhibiting some degree of undernutrition. Children with cyanotic CHD demonstrated significantly higher rates of underweight, stunting, and wasting compared to those with acyanotic CHD. Severity of wasting was also associated with increasing age.

Conclusion: Malnutrition remains a major comorbidity in children with congenital heart disease, particularly among those with cyanotic lesions. Routine nutritional assessment and early, targeted nutritional intervention should be integrated into the comprehensive management of children with CHD to improve growth outcomes and overall prognosis..
..

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

[1] Hoffman JI, Kaplan S. The incidence of congenital heart disease. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2002;39(12):1890–1900.

[2] van der Linde D, Konings EEM, Slager MA, Witsenburg M, Helbing WA, Takkenberg JJM, Roos-Hesselink JW. Birth prevalence of congenital heart disease worldwide: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2011;58(21):2241–2247.

[3] Roman B. Nourishing little hearts: nutritional implications for congenital heart defects. Nutr Issues Gastroenterol. 2011;(98):1–40.

[4] Dwyer J. Nutritional requirements and dietary assessment. In: Jameson JL, Fauci AS, Kasper DL, Hauser SL, Longo DL, Loscalzo J, editors. Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine. 20th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2018.

[5] Sarni ROS, Souza FIS, Catherino P, Kochi C, Oliveira FLC, Nóbrega FJ. Treatment of children with severe malnutrition using the WHO protocol: experience of a center. Arch Latinoam Nutr. 2005;55:1–11.

[6] Mitchell IM, Logan RW, Pollock JC, Jamieson MP. Nutritional status of children with congenital heart disease. Rev Latinoam Enferm. 2012;20:1024–1032.

[7] Ibrahim MK, Zambruni M, Melby CL, Melby PC. Impact of childhood malnutrition on host defense and infection. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2017;30:919–971.

[8] Begum R, Kher A. Anthropometric assessment in children with congenital heart disease. Int J Contemp Pediatr. 2018;5(2):634–639.

[9] Tandon A, Sengupta S, Shukla V. Risk factors for congenital heart disease in Vellore. Curr Res J Biol Sci. 2010;2(4):253–258.

[10] Vaidyanathan B, Nair SB, Sundaram KR, Babu UK, Shivaprakaste K, Rao SG. Malnutrition in children with congenital heart disease: determinants and short-term impact of corrective intervention. Indian Pediatr. 2008;45:541–546.

[11] Mishra M, Mittal M, Verma AM, Rai R, Chandra G, Singh DP. Prevalence and pattern of congenital heart disease in school children of Eastern Uttar Pradesh. Indian Heart J. 2009;61:58–60.

[12] Okoromah CA, Ekure EN, Lesi FE, Okunowo WO, Tijani BO, Okeiyi JC. Prevalence, profile and predictors of malnutrition in children with congenital heart defects: a case-control observational study. Arch Dis Child. 2011;96(4):354–360.

[13] Swagata M, D’Souza J. Anthropometric profiles of children with congenital heart disease. Int J Pediatr Res. 2016;3(8):577–583.

Downloads

Published

2026-01-07

How to Cite

1.
Amonkar P, Lalwani N, Gavhane J, Kadam N. Patterns Of Malnutrition In Children With Cyanotic And Acyanotic Congenital Heart Disease. J Neonatal Surg [Internet]. 2026 Jan. 7 [cited 2026 May 2];15(1):17-23. Available from: https://jneonatalsurg.com/index.php/jns/article/view/9852

Issue

Vol. 15 No. 1 (2026): Journal of Neonatal Surgery

Section

Original Article

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

You are free to:

  • Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.

Terms:

  • Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
  • No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.