Congenital Heart Defect News and Research

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A congenital heart defect is a problem with the structure of the heart. It is present at birth. Congenital heart defects are the most common type of major birth defect.

Research reveals high prevalence of abnormal heart rhythms in adults with congenital heart disease

Almost 1 in 5 adults with congenital heart disease living in Israel had or developed an abnormal heart rhythm/arrhythmia during a five-year study, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association.

17 Apr 2024

Study finds reduction in mortality rate among children born with Down syndrome and heart defect

Since 1990, the mortality rate for children born with Down syndrome and a congenital heart defect has more than halved.

17 Jan 2024

Scientists uncover cellular cause of heart defects in babies born to women with diabetes

When women with diabetes become pregnant, they face not only the typical challenges of pregnancy and impending parenthood, but also a scary statistic: they're five times more likely to have a baby with a congenital heart defect.

30 Nov 2023

New heart organoid model could revolutionize drug development and toxicology studies

Heart disease kills 18 million people each year, but the development of new therapies faces a bottleneck: no physiological model of the entire human heart exists – so far.

28 Nov 2023

Biodegradable patch holds promise of correcting congenital heart defects in infants

Using laboratory engineered tissue, scientists at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have created a full thickness, biodegradable patch that holds the promise of correcting congenital heart defects in infants, limiting invasive surgeries and outlasting current patches.

27 Nov 2023

PCCT offers better cardiovascular imaging quality in infants with suspected congenital heart defects

A new advanced form of CT imaging called photon-counting computed tomography (PCCT) offers better cardiovascular imaging quality at a similar radiation dose compared to dual-source CT (DSCT) in infants with suspected cardiac heart defects, according to a study published in Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America.

23 May 2023

Study: Black infants disproportionately die from necrotizing enterocolitis compared to White babies

A study published in JAMA Network Open has found that in the US between 1999 and 2020, Black infants disproportionately died from necrotizing enterocolitis compared to White infants, despite overall improvements in the rates of death from the disease.

3 Mar 2023

'Stem cell plasters' could revolutionize treatment for children with congenital heart disease

Researchers at the University of Bristol funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) have developed 'stem cell plasters' to revolutionize the way surgeons treat children living with congenital heart disease, so they don't need as many open-heart operations.

20 Dec 2022

Administering steroids during heart surgery does not improve post-operative outcomes in infants

The largest clinical trial ever conducted in infants younger than age 1 undergoing heart surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass found that administering steroids during surgery did not improve post-operative outcomes compared to placebo, according to preliminary late-breaking research to be presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2022.

7 Nov 2022

Watch: Their baby died. The medical bills haunted them.

Born with a congenital heart defect and other medical issues, Sterling Raspe lived just eight months. In that time, she needed dozens of medical procedures and often required round-the-clock care in the neonatal intensive care unit.

30 Sep 2022

Shattered dreams and bills in the millions: Losing a baby in America

The day after his 8-month-old baby died, Kingsley Raspe opened the mail and found he had been sent to collections for her care.

23 Sep 2022

Researchers find mechanisms behind the development of congenital birth defect

About one percent of the world population is born with a congenital heart defect, which affects about 40,000 U.S. births each year, but how these particular birth defects come about is largely unknown.

1 Aug 2022

Integrating mental health support with routine care is essential for people with congenital heart defects

Although many individuals born with congenital heart defects develop resilience and have a high quality of life, they may face a variety of health-related psychological and social challenges throughout their lives.

14 Jul 2022

High blood pressure genes improve outcomes after congenital heart defect repair surgery

Children with a genetic makeup that predicts high blood pressure as adults are more likely to survive congenital heart defect repair surgery, according to a new study published in Circulation Research.

15 Mar 2022

People with congenital heart defect hospitalized for COVID-19 are at highest risk of severe illness

People with a congenital heart defect who were hospitalized with COVID-19 infection were at higher risk for severe illness or death than those without a heart defect, according to new research published today in the American Heart Association's flagship, peer-reviewed journal Circulation.

7 Mar 2022

Novel approach pinpoints genetic variants involved in congenital heart disease

Nearly 1 percent of all children are born with congenital heart disease-;a range of potentially life-threatening problems with the structure and function of their hearts. For most children, the precise causes of these frightening defects are unknown.

18 Feb 2022

Anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies suggested to be safe to use in pregnancy

Pregnant patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 were treated with MAb and reported no adverse effects.

30 Nov 2021

Women born with heart defects can safely become pregnant and give birth to healthy babies

Most women who are born with heart defects can safely become pregnant and give birth to healthy babies with few or minor problems if they are supported by expert medical care and counselling, according to research published in the European Heart Journal .

13 Oct 2021

First-ever endoscopic "triple valve" surgery in the U.S. performed at UC Medical Center

UC Health cardiac surgeons have successfully performed the United States' first-ever endoscopic "triple valve" surgery at UC Medical Center.

19 Aug 2021

Surgery to correct congenital heart disease linked to increased risk of adult hypertension

In a medical records study covering thousands of children, a U.S.-Canadian team led by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine concludes that while surgery to correct congenital heart disease (CHD) within 10 years after birth may restore young hearts to healthy function, it also may be associated with an increased risk of hypertension -- high blood pressure -- within a few months or years after surgery.

8 Apr 2021