Frequency of Echocardiographic Complications of Dilated Cardiomyopathy in Patients of Pediatric Age Group Reported At Children Hospital Lahore

BACKGROUND: Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) can lead to a variety of complications. The study aimed to evaluate the frequency of complications in pediatric population with DCM in our setup. METHODS: This descriptive study was conducted at Children's Hospital and Institute of Child Health in Lahore, Pakistan. Duration of study was 4 months. Ninety-two patients with DCM, without age and gender discrimination, were selected by convenience sampling. Patients with hypertrophic and restrictive cardiomyopathies, or primary valvular and congenital heart diseases were excluded. RESULTS: Mean age was 5.59±4.19 years with male predominance (51 males and 41 females). Mean ejection fraction (EF) was 42.05±18.97%, mean fractional shortening (FS) 21.58±10.89%, mean left ventricular end diastolic dimension (LVEDD) 44.63±13.07% and left ventricular dimension in systole (LVDs) 35.02±14.10%. Complications revealed on echocardiography were intracardiac thrombi (3, 3.26%), mitral regurgitation (39, 32.6%), tricuspid regurgitation (12, 12.9%), aortic regurgitation (3, 3.3%), multi-valvular regurgitation (8, 8.7%) and LV dilatation (76, 82.6%). CONCLUSION: Left ventricular (LV) dysfunction, intracardiac thrombi, mitral and tricuspid regurgitation, and LV dilatation are important complications of dilated cardiomyopathy. Echocardiography is an important tool to identify these complications.