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One hundred and seventy nine children reporting to the paediatric cardiac clinic were studied consecutively over a 2 year period (1991-1993) using medical history, physical examination, chest x-ray, electrocardiography, echocardiography and complete haemogram. 100 (56%) of them had congenital heart disease, 70(39%) had rheumatic heart disease, four had cardiomyopathy and in five children no abnormality was detected. 58 of patients with congenital heart disease were females and 42 were males. Their age ranged between two weeks and 15 years and four months. Symptoms started in infancy in 89% of 94 symptomatic patients. The commonest symptoms were breathlessness, failure to thrive, repeated chest infections and cynosis. The other six patients were detected incidentally. Almost all types of defects were represented, the commonest being ventricular septal defect (VSD), Fallot's tetralogy, pulmonary stenosis, patent ductus arteriosus, atrioventricular septal defect and secondum atrial septal defect. Five patients with VSD were preterms. 91% of patients with VSD were symptomatic. VSD was small in one-third of patients. six patients with VSD aged 5-11 years had evidence of pulmonary hypertension, one of whom had Eisenmenger with cynosis and one found inoperable because of pulmonary vascular disease. Twenty patients had extracardiac malformations in 65% of whom more than one system was involved. 53% patients were anaemic. 47% of patients were underweight and 33% were marasmic while only 14% of controls were underweight and none of them was marasmic.