Abstract
Introduction: Paediatric cardiologist run outreach clinics have long waiting times. An audit identified that significant number of patients referred to our outreach clinic, in district general hospital, had innocent murmurs or symptoms without any cardiac pathology. As a result we set up a cardiac screening clinic, run by an appropriately trained consultant paediatrician, to relieve pressures on the outreach clinic.
Aim: The aim was to analyze the efficacy and safety of the cardiac screening clinic in filtering non- cardiology patients and making appropriate referrals to paediatric Cardiologists.
Methods: Data on all patients referred to the clinic, from in hospital or primary care, was collected and analyzed retrospectively.
Result: 179 patients were seen between May 2007 and March 2010. Of these patients majority were reviewed for murmurs [81% (145/179)]. Other referrals included syncope, chest pain, palpitations or a positive family history of cardiac disorders [19% (34/179)]. 70% (125/179) of all patients were discharged after their initial assessment whilst 4% (54/179) were followed up. Murmur was present in only 56% (84/145) of the patients with murmur, at the time of review. Of these 37% (31/84) had abnormal echocardiograms, mainly ventricular septum defect [61% (19/31)] and pulmonary stenosis [35% (11/31)]. 16% of all screened patients were referred on to the paediatric cardiologist.
Conclusion: Screening clinics are effective filters to select out patients with no cardiac anomaly. We have been successful in relieving the pressure on the cardiology outreach clinic and hence reduce waiting times.
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Chakupurakal, R., Sobithadevi, D., Ahmed, M. et al. 1126 Cardiac Screening Clinics- a Feasible Tool for Efficient Patient Care. Pediatr Res 68 (Suppl 1), 558 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-201011001-01126
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-201011001-01126