Objectives: To assess the prevalence of congenital heart disease (CHD) in Germany in relation
to phenotypes, severity and gender.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we analyzed data from patients with CHD born between
1996 and 2015. A total of 26,630 patients, registered with the NRCHD, were born between
1996 and 2015. A total of 10,927 patients were excluded from the current analysis
due to prior registration with the NRCHD under the German PAN Prevalence Study, which
showed a potential bias in the inclusion of this patient population (proportion of
mild cardiac lesions was comparatively high due to improved diagnostic capability
for earlier identifying minor lesions). At least 15,703 patients with demographic
data and detailed medical information were included in the current study.
Results: In total, 15,703 patients with CHD (47.1% female) were included in this study. The
five most common phenotypes were found to be ventricular septal defect (19.2%), atrial
septal defect (13.0%), Tetralogy of Fallot (9.3%), univentricular heart (9.4%), and
coarctation of the aortae (7.0%). The prevalence of CHD in regard to severity changed
over the duration of the observation period. From 1996 to 2007, the number of simple
CHD rose steadily (p < 0.001), whereas the number of severe CHD has grown significantly since 2008/2009
(p < 0.001). In regard to gender, the prevalence of simple CHD was higher in females,
whereas complex lesions were more common in males (p < 0.001).
Conclusion: Our study shows a growing number of registered severe CHD in the recent decade in
Germany. This development is noteworthy as it implicates a growing demand for first
intensive hospital care, expert pediatric cardiologic aftercare, and consequently
higher economic impact for this patient population.
