Current Status of Paediatric Cardiac Surgery in Pakistan

Abstract

This study is aimed to assess current status of paediatric cardiac surgery in Pakistan regarding the available procedures, hospitals and number of patients being treated. Data was collected through related published articles on PubMed, Google Scholar, ResearchGate and hospital websites. Pakistan has a prevalence of approximately 60,000 births with Congenital Heart Diseases (CHD) each year. With a population of 200 million and only 17 paediatric cardiac surgeons in Pakistan, the current ratio is 0.08 surgeons / million for Pakistan. 3000-4000 paediatric cardiac surgical procedures are performed each year in Punjab, 1400-1500 surgeries per year in Sindh, some surgeries being performed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) while there is no such facility in Baluchistan, Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit Baltistan. Children's Hospital Lahore performs about 1100 surgeries per year, Ittefaq Hospital (IHL) about 950, Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology Rawalpindi (AFIC) conducts about 900, University of Lahore Teaching Hospital Lahore (UOLTH) about 200 cases, National Institute of Cardiovascular Disease (NICVD) about 1500 and Agha Khan University Hospital (AKUH) about 400 cases per year. There is a huge patient load but a lack of resources as well as trained staff and infrastructure. Methods: Publications were systematically searched on PubMed, Google Scholar and ResearchGate using the key words ‘paediatric cardiac surgery’, ‘quality measures for paediatric cardiac surgery’, ‘paediatric cardiac surgery current status in Pakistan’. 31 articles were found related to our topic and were included. More over data was also collected from official websites of NICVD, Children Hospital Lahore and Pakistan Children’s Heart Foundation (PCHF).