Challenges in The Management of Congenital Heart Disease in Contemporary Nigeria: An Illustrative Case of Transposition of The Great Arteries

Abstract

Summary: The case of a three-month-old Nigerian girl with Transposition of the Great Arteries is presented. The definitive diagnosis was based on echocardiography. The parents were counselled on the need for better care in a paediatric cardiology unit where surgical intervention would be offered as the definitive management of the disease sometime in the near future. However, due to financial constraints, the parents failed to take the baby to the specified referral hospital weeks after the referral. This case illustrates the challenges in the management of congenital heart diseases in present day Nigeria as well as the need to establish cardiac centres in the country, where such cases would be properly managed.