Five Things Everyone Should Know About Congenital Heart Defects

1. Leading Birth Defect in US and Worldwide
CHD is the most common birth defect anywhere. Approximately 1 in every 100 babies born has some form of CHD. Over 40,000 CHD babies in the US are born each year.

2. High Mortality Rate
CHD claims more lives each year than all forms of childhood cancer and SIDS. Combined*. 20% of babies born with CHD will not live to see their first birthday.

3. It Can Happen to Anyone
The vast majority of CHD cases have no known cause, and thus we are unable to do anything to prevent them. CHD can happen to anyone of any race, any economic status, and in great maternal health.

4. Ineffective Screening & Diagnosis
There are effective ways to detect and diagnose CHD, but it involves expensive tests like echocardiograms which are not cost-effective to use to screen the whole population. Most babies with CHD will be born with their parents unaware, and have to be transported to appropriate medical facilities. Often symptoms are misdiagnosed, or go untreated while health suffers.

5. We Can Do Better
The NHLBI has stated that CHDs are a serious and underappreciated global health problem. In the last decade, research advances have reduced the mortality rate by almost 30%, but more research is needed to understand what causes CHD in order to prevent it. Better diagnosis and treatment options will help save more lives.

* Childhood cancer, 2004: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5648a1.htm
SIDS, 2004: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudden_infant_death_syndrome
CHD, 1995-1997: http://www.circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/103/19/2376