What is it?
Understanding Congenital Heart Disease is the first part to effective treatment and prevention.
- Rare (Fewer than 200,000 cases per year in US)
- Should be examined by a doctor
- Treatable by a medical professional
Congenital Heart Disease is a heart injury of abnormalities in the heart that are present at birth. The defect could be in the heart walls, valves or the blood vessels. It is a birth defect that could range from a small hole in the heart to something more severe. Most of these diseases can be treated with surgery. Doctors will often diagnose these problems during pregnancy but you may not experience any symptoms until you reach adulthood. In some cases, you may not experience them at all. There are several types of congenital heart diseases including: heart valve defects where some valves are too narrow or closed; bad connections with blood vessels that don’t carry blood to right parts of the body; issues with the heart’s muscle itself where it is unable to pump as efficiently as it should. For minor defects, most treatments are not required and the patient is allowed to live throughout their lives. Other severe cases may require blood pressure lowering medications, heart devices, catheter procedures and surgery. Serious cases may require heart transplant.
You Can't Prevent Congenital Heart Disease but your mother can
There are many ways to reduce the chances of sustaining Congenital Heart Disease. Pregnant women or women planning on pregnancy can reduce risk of developing CHD by:
- Controlling blood sugar
- Avoiding exposure to Rubella virus or being previously immunized
- Avoiding alcohol and smoking during pregnancy
- Note: Genetic screening should be performed for women who have a family history of CHD
Find out more about how Dasion diagnoses Congenital Heart Disease.
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Existing Diagnosis Models:
What does Congenital Heart Disease look like?
Find out if you may have sustained Congenital Heart Disease.
Congenital Heart Disease should be diagnosed by a Doctors after a self-check:
- Newborns may show poor feeding, poor growth, and low birth weight
- Irregular heartbeat
- Cyanosis (bluish skin, lips or nails)
- Digital clubbing (changes in nails)
- Shortness of breath
- Swelling of tissues or organs
- Becoming tired too quickly on exertion
Note: The exact cause of CHD is not known but several factors may contribute to its development, but infections during pregnancy are a main factor.