CONDITION LEADING TO PEDIATRIC CARDIOLOGY CONSULTATION IN TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL PESHAWAR

Objectives: This study was conducted to determine the basis for cardiology consultation and the rationale for different clinical conditions in the pediatric population. Methodology: This descriptive study was conducted in Pediatric Cardiology department, Peshawar institute of Cardiology from June 2021 to December 2021. A data of 817 patients was collected from monthly log of patients maintained by the consultation services, files of admitted patients, echocardiographic and laboratory reports. Patients enlisted through consecutive sampling irrespective of patients age, gender. Data collected was analyzed on IBM SPSS version 20. For numerical variables, mean/standard deviations were determined. For categorical variables, frequency and percentages were determined, and a p-value of 0.05 was deemed a significant difference. Results: Age at the time of consultation was 3.2 ± 11.7 years (range 1 day to 47 years). The most common basis for consultation were intercurrent illness in underlying congenital heart disease 288 (35.25%). A total of 551(67%) had Single consultation and 266(32.92%) had multiple consultation ranging from 2 to 4. Conclusion: Systematic approach should be followed to assess these patients in tertiary care hospital and all consultants must follow the curricula to get the required knowledge and gain expertise in these diseases to diagnose properly. None the less these data confirm the impression of increasing demands of the pediatric cardiologist, and thus may be useful in planning consultant services within the specialty.