Prevalence of Congenital Heart Defects in Neonates of Drug Abusing Mothers

Background: Congenital heart defects (CHDs) are the most common congenital malformations at birth. Substance abuse has increased dramatically over the past two decades. It also can affect neonates of drug-abusing mothers. Objectives: This study aimed to elucidate the possible association of maternal drug abuse with CHDs in their newborn infants. Patients and Methods: In this study, 72 neonates who were born during 6 years in three teaching hospitals are studied. Echocardiography was performed by a single pediatric cardiologist using two-dimensional and color Doppler echocardiography. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: 1) Of 72 included cases, 38 (52.78%) had abnormal echocardiographic findings; 2) from 38 abnormal echocardiography, 35 (48.61% of total and 92.11% of abnormal echoes) had mild congenital heart defect (CHD), and 3 had complex CHD; 3) There was no significant difference in the prevalence of neonatal congenital heart defect with the type of misused drugs (opiates or methamphetamines). Conclusions: In our study, the prevalence of CHD in newborns of drug abuser mothers was significantly higher than the normal population of infants. Hence, echocardiographic screening of these newborns seems to be logical.