Congenital Heart Disease

Building a drug delivery platform to regenerate heart tissue

(Medical Xpress) -- While current heart-attack treatments mainly try to preserve healthy heart tissue, scientists have been finding compounds that can stimulate growth of new tissue – either by getting heart muscle ...

Cardiology created May 21, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Erectile dysfunction drug may benefit cardiac function in young patients with heart defects

Sildenafil, also known as the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra, may give a boost to underdeveloped hearts in children and young adults with congenital heart defects. Researchers from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia ...

Cardiology created May 08, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Newborns should be screened for heart defects, study shows

There is now overwhelming evidence that all babies should be offered screening for heart defects at birth, according to a major new study published online in The Lancet.

Health created May 02, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New tests monitor brain health during children's heart surgery

A new monitoring method and blood test may provide early warnings when a child's brain isn't getting enough blood during heart surgery, according to new research presented during the American Heart Association's Emerging ...

Pediatrics created Apr 25, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Women with heart disease more likely to have baby girls

Dubai (20 April 2012): Women with heart disease are more likely to give birth to female rather than male babies according to a new study presented today at the World Congress of Cardiology. The study found that three-quarters ...

Cardiology created Apr 20, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

'Hybrid' surgery saves UCLA patient from softball-sized aneurysm

Patricia Crawford had literally been tinged blue all her life because her heart couldn’t pump enough oxygenated blood through her body. And that was the least of her worries.

Surgery created Apr 13, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

In children born with severe heart defect, surgical management has little effect on neuro outcomes

In the largest multicenter clinical trial of children undergoing early-stage surgery for single-ventricle heart defects, differences in intraoperative management did not significantly affect neurodevelopmental outcomes at ...

Cardiology created Apr 05, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Childhood cancer survivors at risk for cardiac events

(HealthDay) -- Childhood cancer survivors (CCSs) treated with anthracyclines and/or cardiac irradiation have a higher risk of developing symptomatic cardiac events (CEs) in the long term, according to a study ...

Cardiology created Apr 04, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Poor dental hygiene puts congenital heart disease patients at risk of further heart damage

Copenhagen, 16 March 2012: Poor dental hygiene behaviours in patients with congenital heart disease are increasing their risk of endocarditis. Teens with congenital heart disease floss, brush and visit the dentist less than ...

Cardiology created Mar 16, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Team gains understanding of white matter in infants receiving heart surgery

A collaborative team of researchers at Children's National Medical Center are making progress in understanding how to protect infants needing cardiac surgery from white matter injury, which impacts the nervous system. The ...

Cardiology created Mar 08, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

UCLA docs guide mom with heart condition through birth, operate on newborn

Keyota Cole was born with a bad heart. The 33-year-old from of Bakersfield, Calif., suffers from a congenital heart disease called Ebstein's malformation of the tricuspid valve, and from abnormal pulmonary veins. She ...

Cardiology created Feb 14, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Diabetes linked to higher rate of birth defects

(Medical Xpress) -- Pregnant women with diabetes are almost four times more likely to have a baby with a birth defect than women without the condition and the likelihood is linked to the mother's glucose level, ...

Diabetes created Feb 07, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

'ROCK' off: Study establishes molecular link between genetic defect and heart malformation

UNC researchers have discovered how the genetic defect underlying one of the most common congenital heart diseases keeps the critical organ from developing properly. According to the new research, mutations ...

Genetics created Feb 06, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers find genetic mechanism linked to congenital heart disease

Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have identified a finely tuned mechanism by which fetal heart muscle develops into a healthy and fully formed beating heart—offering new insight into the genetic causes of congenital ...

Genetics created Jan 22, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Report finds 1 in 50 babies has birth defect and highlights worrying gaps in regional monitoring

More than one baby in every 50 is born with a birth defect (congenital anomaly) according to the latest annual report by the British Isles Network of Congenital Anomaly Registers (BINOCAR) – significantly more common ...

Health created Dec 14, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0


A congenital heart defect (CHD) is a defect in the structure of the heart and great vessels which is present at birth. Many types of heart defects exist, most of which either obstruct blood flow in the heart or vessels near it, or cause blood to flow through the heart in an abnormal pattern. Other defects, such as long QT syndrome, affect the heart's rhythm. Heart defects are among the most common birth defects and are the leading cause of birth defect-related deaths. Approximately 9 people in 1000 are born with a congenital heart defect. Many defects don't need treatment, but some complex congenital heart defects require medication or surgery.

This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

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