Evaluation of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy in Hacettepe University, Department of Pediatric Cardiology between 2015-2020

Cardiomyopathies are an important cause of mortality and morbidity in both adults and children. Dilated cardiomyopathies, the most common cardiomyopathy in children, are the most common reason for heart transplantation in children older than one- year-old. In this disease, which has no definitive treatment other than heart transplantation, the etiology cannot be found most of the time, despite advanced molecular methods. Known etiologies include myocarditis, neuromuscular diseases, familial cardiomyopathies, metabolic diseases, malformation syndromes, drugs and toxins. In this study, the clinical, laboratory and echocardiographic findings of patients with the diagnosis of dilated cardiomyopathy, aged 0-18 years, in Hacettepe University İhsan Doğramacı Hospital Pediatric Cardiology Department between 2015 and 2020 were evaluated. In this study, in which 77 patients were evaluated as dilated cardiomyopathy, the diagnosis of eight patients was changed to ALCAPA. Considering the etiological evaluation of the remaining patients, 56% (n=39) were idiopathic. At the end of the study, 26% (n=18) of them had improved left ventricular functions, and 11% (n=8) had a heart transplant. The mortality rate was found to be 32% (n=22). In our study, it was determined that echocardiographic values at the time of admission such as left ventricular shortening fraction (<-15.5%) and z score (<-12.7), and left ventricular ejection fraction (<30%) could give an idea in determining the need for transplantation in the follow-up.