A Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) is a defect in the structure of the heart and great vessels of a newborn.

They result when a mishap occurs during heart development soon after conception and often before the mother is aware that she is pregnant. Defects range in severity from simple problems, such as “holes” between chambers of the heart, to very severe malformations, such as complete absence of one or more chambers or valves. Most heart defects either obstruct blood flow in the heart or vessels near it or cause blood to flow through the heart in an abnormal pattern.

For the year 2006 CHD was affecting approximately one (1) in every hundred twenty five (125) babies born. These numbers raised alarmingly on the year 2007 to one (1) in every eighty five (85), congenital heart defects are the most common birth defect. As appointed by The Children’s Heart Foundation - Forty thousand people are born each year with a CHD; 4,000 will not survive their first year. Twice as many children die each year from a CHD than all forms of Pediatric Cancers combined. The eight most common defects account for 80% of all congenital heart diseases, while the remaining 20% consist of many independently infrequent conditions or combinations of several defects -. Ventricular septal defect (VSD) is generally considered to be the most common type of malformation, accounting for about 1/3 of all congenital heart defects.

Over 91,000 lives are lost each year in the US due to congenital heart disease. Charges for care exceed 2.2 billion dollars, for inpatient surgery alone.

Not all heart defects in children are related to CHD but most of them. These defects are usually but not always diagnosed early in life. Rarely, heart disease is not congenital but may occur during childhood such as heart damage due to infection. This type of heart disease is called acquired; examples include Kawasaki disease and rheumatic fever. Children also can be born with or develop heart rate problems such as slow, fast, or irregular heart beats, known as “arrhythmias”.

Symptoms and signs are related to the type and severity of the heart defect. Some children have no signs while others may exhibit shortness of breath, cyanosis, chest pain, syncope, sweating, heart murmur, respiratory infections, underdeveloping of limbs and muscles, poor feeding, or poor growth. Most defects cause a whispering sound, or murmur, as blood moves through the heart causing some of these symptoms. All of these symptoms occur at a young age of a child or infant and are typically found during a physical examination.

Anyone can have a child with a congenital heart defect. Out of 1000 births, 8 babies will have some form of congenital heart disorder, most of which are mild. If you or other family members have already had a baby with a heart defect, your risk of having a baby with heart disease may be higher. Estimates suggest that about 1,000,000 Americans have a congenital heart defect. Approximately 35,000 babies are born with a defect each year.

The treatment over the year are improving a lot. Overall mortality has significantly declined over the past few decades. For example, in the 1960s and 1970s the risk of dying following congenital heart surgery was about 30% and today it is around 5%. Successful treatment requires highly specialized care. Severe congenital heart disease requires extensive financial resources both in and out of the hospital. Children with developmental delay also require community and school-based resources to achieve optimum functioning.

Virtually all children with simple defects survive into adulthood. Although exercise capacity may be limited, most people lead normal or nearly normal lives. For more complex lesions, limitations are common. Some children with congenital heart disease have developmental delay or other learning difficulties.

Severe Categories
There are at least 43 known categories of CHD but these are considered the more severe.

Patent ductus arteriosus
The ductus arteriosus is a temporary pathway in the foetal heart between the pulmonary artery and aorta, which allows blood to bypass the fetus’s nonfunctioning lungs until birth. Normally, the ductus closes within a few hours or days of birth; when it does not, the result is patent ductus arteriosus. This defect is common in premature infants but rare in full-term infants.

Hypoplasia
Hypoplasia can affect the heart, which typically results in the failure of either the right ventricle or the left ventricle to develop adequately, leaving only one side of the heart capable of pumping blood to the body and lungs. Hypoplasia of the heart is rare but is the most serious form of CHD; it is called hypoplastic left heart syndrome when it affects the left side of the heart and hypoplastic right heart syndrome when it affects the right side of the heart. In both conditions, the presence of a patent ductus arteriosus (and, when hypoplasia affects the right side of the heart, a patent foramen ovale) is vital to the infant’s ability to survive until emergency heart surgery can be performed, since without these pathways blood cannot circulate to the body (or lungs, depending on which side of the heart is defective). Hypoplasia of the heart is generally a cyanotic heart defect.

Obstruction defects
Obstruction defects occur when heart valves, arteries, or veins are abnormally narrow or blocked. Common obstruction defects include pulmonary valve stenosis, aortic valve stenosis, and coarctation of the aorta, with other types such as bicuspid aortic valve stenosis and subaortic stenosis being comparatively rare. Any narrowing or blockage can cause heart enlargement or hypertension.

Septal defects
The septum is a wall of tissue which separates the left heart from the right heart. It is comparatively common for defects to exist in the interatrial septum or the interventricular septum, allowing blood to flow from the left side of the heart to the right, reducing the heart’s efficiency. Ventricular septal defects are collectively the most common type of CHD, although approximately 30% of adults have a type of atrial septal defect called patent foramen ovale. Septal defects may or may not cause cyanosis depending on the severity of the defect.

Cyanotic defects
Cyanotic heart defects are called such because they result in cyanosis, a bluish-grey discoloration of the skin due to a lack of oxygen in the body. Such defects include persistent truncus arteriosus, total anomalous pulmonary venous connection, tetralogy of Fallot, transposition of the great vessels, and tricuspid atresia.

Fight Back!

Doctors don’t know exactly what are the condition that promote CHD but they know how to prevent it:

• Avoid Alcohol and drugs during pregnancy
• Inmunize Against Rubella (if you’re not)
• Check Your Blood Levels especially if you have diabetes.
• Consult your doctor before taking any street or over-the-counter drugs.
• Tell your doctor if there is any heart condition in your family.
• A good prenatal care is essential. Get an obtetrician.
• Many congenital defects can be discovered on routine ecocardiogram examinations performed by an obstetrician.

This last point is optional, we don’t know why it is not a normal prenatal test procedure yet knowing that CHD is the #1 cause of death.

Help us made it a standard check up at:

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/media-awareness-for-chd.html (Worldwide)

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/chd-awareness-for-pr.html (PR only)

For more information visit our main Ministry Page at www.media-ministry.org/chd

Resources:

http://www.wikipedia.com

The Children's Heart Foundation

The American Heart Association

MedlinePlus Encyclopedia

Copyrights @2008 GTFN