The practice of paediatric cardiology in Nigeria: A Review

Abstract

Abstract Background: The practice of Paediatric cardiology in Nigeria is at its early phase and it is being choked in an environment overwhelmed with economic, ethnic and political issues. Paediatric cardiology covers a broad area of medicine. This includes diagnosis, medical treatment, interventional cardiology, prenatal diagnosis and surgery. It will also not thrive without a high level of infrastructure manned by personnel with advanced training and expertise. Regretably, the manpower and infrastructure that are needed is grossly inadequate in Nigeria. For the practice of paediatric cardiology to gain ground, a well knitted corroborative mechanism involving the government and hospital authorities must be endorsed

Methods: A search for published works on practice of paediatric cardiology in Nigeria was performed using Google and Pub
Med. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews was also searched. The areas of focus were historical facts, burden of the problem, organization, factors militating Paediatric cardiology practice in Nigeria and the way forward.

Results and Conclusions: Contrary to what is widely believed in many quarters, though erroneously, there is overwhelming evidence that the practice of paediatric  cardiology has left much to be desired.

Keywords: paediatric cardiology; Nigeria; manpower; infrastructure