[The use of Doppler echocardiography in the diagnosis of congenital heart disease in the Pediatric Department of CHU-Tokoin, at Lomé (Togo)].

Currently, echography coupled with Doppler is a primary technique in the diagnosis of congenital heart disease. Since September 1993, the pediatric ward of the Tokoin teaching hospital of Lome has been equipped with this technology. During the following 23 months, there were 299 examinations with Doppler-echocardiography among the consultations of 15,082 children. Eighty-two cases of congenital heart defects were detected in 73 children, aged between 3 days and 13 years, of whom 79.4% were between 7 days and 30 months old. In all cases, either pulsed or continuous Doppler-echocardiography was performed at the request of doctors treating symptoms suggestive of cardiac disease, such as heart murmur (67%) and cyanopathy (22%). The noncyanotic cardiopathies found were ventricular septal defects (24%), patent ductus arteriosus (21%), interatrial septal defects (18%) and atrioventricular canal defects (9%). The most frequent cyanotic cardiopathy detected was Fallot's tetralogy (19.5%). Thus, early diagnosis and management of congenital heart disease is facilitated by systematic examination of newborns and sustained collaboration between pediatricians, obstetricians and cardiologists.