Down's Syndrome (Hansard, 31 January 1989)

§ Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many A-V canal defect operations were carried out on children with Down's syndrome in each of the past five years; and in which hospitals these operations took place.

§ Mr. Freeman
This information is not identifiable from data collected centrally. Returns of the United Kingdom cardiac surgery register show that 137 A-V canal operations were performed in 1985. We do not have information on the proportion of these operations which involved children with Down's syndrome, or the hospitals in which such operations took place.

§ Mr. Alton
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children suffering from A-V canal defect died in each of the past five years; and how many of these also had Down's syndrome.

§ Mr. Freeman
Information is not available in exactly the form requested. Table 1 shows the number of deaths of children aged 0–14 registered in England and Wales in 1983–87 to which endocardial cushion defects (International Classification of Diseases 9th revision 745.6), which includes A-V canal defect, was assigned as the underlying cause of death.
For 1985 and 1986 all causes of death were coded, and information on the number of certificates mentioning endocardial cushion defects is consequently available. Table 2 shows, for those deaths registered in 1985 and 1986, how many death certificates for 0–14 year olds contained a mention of ICD 745.6 (irrespective of whether or not it was assigned as the underlying cause of death), and how many of those also contained a mention of Down's syndrome (ICD 758.0). Similar information is not available for the other data years.
191W

Table 1

Number of death registrations with endocardial cushion defect¹ assigned as underlying cause of death, ages 0–14 years England and Wales, 1983–87

Year Deaths

1983 54

1984 43

1985 50

²1986 47

²1987 32

²1988 ³18

¹ International Classification of Diseases (ICD) ninth revision code 745.6.

² Deaths at ages 28 days and over. No underlying cause of death has been assigned to deaths under 28 days since 1 January 1986.

³ Provisional, January to September registrations only.

Table 2

Number of death registrations containing a mention of endocardial cushion defects (ICD code 745.6) and the number of these also mentioning Down's syndrome (ICD code 758.0) ages 0–14 years, England and Wales 1985–86

Year Total mentions of ICD 745.6 Number also mentioning ICD 758.0

1985 65 29

¹986 56 24

¹ Deaths at ages 28 days and over.

Table 1
Number of death registrations with endocardial cushion defect¹ assigned as underlying cause of death, ages 0–14 years England and Wales, 1983–87
Year	Deaths
1983	54
1984	43
1985	50
²1986	47
²1987	32
²1988	³18
¹ International Classification of Diseases (ICD) ninth revision code 745.6.
² Deaths at ages 28 days and over. No underlying cause of death has been assigned to deaths under 28 days since 1 January 1986.
³ Provisional, January to September registrations only.

Table 2
Number of death registrations containing a mention of endocardial cushion defects (ICD code 745.6) and the number of these also mentioning Down's syndrome (ICD code 758.0) ages 0–14 years, England and Wales 1985–86
Year	Total mentions of ICD 745.6	Number also mentioning ICD 758.0
1985	65	29
¹986	56	24
¹ Deaths at ages 28 days and over.