The need for through understanding of paediatric echocardiography to make proper diagnosis of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) in children was stressed at a Continuing Medical Education (CME) programme jointly organised by Dr. Ramesh Educational Society (RES) and Indian Association of Paediatrics (IAP) here on Sunday.
Participating as the chief guest, senior paediatrician R. Venkateswara Rao said handling CHD in infants and children was extremely difficult due to late referrals and complications involving other organs.
“Even after the advances achieved in sub-specialisation of paediatric cardiology, the mortality rate continues to be a cause for concern. It is partly because of the lack of knowledge among parents and failure on the part of medical practitioners to properly diagnose the diseases,” he observed and added that more such CME programmes were required to throw light on diseases like CHD and Congestive Heart Failure. “These are not only fatal but also cause long-term morbidity unless they are detected in time and proper treatment is given,” Dr. Rao added. Giving an introduction to paediatric cardiology as a sub-speciality, Ramesh Hospitals Managing Director P. Ramesh Babu said the socio-economic burden of CHD was quite high as an estimated 1.75 lakh children are born with it every year in India.
Later, paediatric cardiothoracic surgeon Benedict Raj, paediatric cardiologists N. Srinath Reddy and R. Jyothi Prakash Reddy, interventional cardiologist P.N.S. Haritha and cardiac anaesthetist V.V. Raja Viswanath gave presentations on their areas of specialisation.
Handling CHD in infants is extremely difficult due to late referrals , says senior paediatrician
