Risk of Autoimmune Diseases in Children with Congenital Heart Disease

Background: Congenital heart diseases (CHD) are among the most frequent type of birth defects, accounting for one third of all birth defects. While the relationship between several maternal autoimmune diseases and CHD in their offsprings was investigated in several studies, the results remain conflicted and further research is needed.

Methods: We investigated the prevalence of auto-immune diseases, including hypothyroidism in two groups of children and their first-degree relatives. We compared 200 healthy children (controls) against 200 children with CHD.

Results: The CHD group showed significantly higher prevalence of autoimmune diseases (14%) compared to their controls (2%) (CHD = 14%, Controls = 2%, p < 0.001) with autoimmune hypothyroidism being the most common disease (CHD = 12.5%, Controls = 1.5%, p < 0.001). Finally, the most common type of CHD was Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) compared to other types of CHD.

Conclusion: Children with CHD have an increased risk to develop auto-immune diseases in general and hypothyroidism in particular. Nonimmune hypothyroidism was also more common in children with CHD.