Incidence of heart disease in school children of Pensacola, Florida.

Abstract

Abstract : The material, methods, and criteria used in conducting a cardiovascular survey of the white school children in Pensacola, Florida, are presented. Twenty-six hundred children were examined, ranging in age from 9 to 23 years, and representing 58.5% of all the students enrolled in grades four through twelve. Twenty-two cases of organic heart disease were encountered, an incidence of 0.85%. Ten cases were of rheumatic origin (0.38%), ten were of congenital origin (0.38%), and two were of undetermined etiology (0.08%). Included in the ten cases of congenital heart disease are four cases of the WolffParkinson-White syndrome. The incidence of rheumatic heart disease is comparable with that found in other surveys conducted in the southern part of the United States, and is much lower than the rates reported from Northern areas. (Author)