Abstract

The present study of 260 combined necropsy and clinical cases of congenital heart defect has revealed that the various types of defects occur in the same proportions in Africans as in non-Africans. The frequency of associated noncardiac malformations, the cause of death, and sex distribution are similar to what has been described in non-Africans. Of the possible aetiological factors, there was evidence of a causal relation between maternal rubella infection and persistent ductus arteriosus. There was, however, no such evidence in respect of abnormal haemoglobins, maternal age, and birth rank.