Spectrum of Heart Diseases at a Referral Tertiary Care Hospital in Somalia, Mogadishu: An Echocardiographic Study
Abstract Background: To investigate the frequencies and patterns of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), including rheumatic and congenital heart diseases, assessed by echocardiographic examinations in the only referral tertiary care hospital in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.Methods: This retrospective, descriptive registry reviewed the pathological echocardiographic findings of 1140 patients aged 0-100 years who were admitted to the cardiology outpatient clinic in a tertiary training hospital in Mogadishu.Results: Hypertensive heart disease (HHD) 454 (39.8%) and degenerative valvular disease 395 (34.6%) were the most common comorbidities. Congenital heart diseases (CHD) were detected in 151 (13.2%) of the patients, with the most common ones including atrial septal defect (ASD) 37 (3.2%) and ventricular septal defect (VSD) 26 (2.3%).Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) was detected in 84 (7.4%) patients, among whom the most common age range was 16-30 years (40.5%), followed by 31-45 years (31%) and 0-15 years (15.5%). Conclusıon: In the present study, we found that HHD was the most common comorbidity , followed by degenerative valvular disease, Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction(HFrEF),and Ischemic heart disease(IHD).Moreover, the most common valvular disease was mitral insufficiency and the most common CHD was ASD.