Heart Defect News and Research

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Determining how hearts develop to better understand congenital heart defects

To understand cardiovascular failures, the leading cause of birth defect-related deaths in infants, UH professor of biomedical engineering Kirill Larin is teaming up with Baylor College of Medicine professor of cellular and molecular physiology Irina Larina on a chicken and egg hunt.

14 Nov 2018

Pregnant women with type 1 diabetes at increased risk of having babies with heart defects

Pregnant women with type 1 diabetes run a higher risk of having babies with heart defects, especially women with high blood glucose levels during early pregnancy, a study from Karolinska Institutet and the Sahlgrenska Academy in Sweden published in The BMJ shows.

5 Jul 2018

MDC researchers provide new insights on embryonic heart development

When it first starts to develop, the heart is a simple tube. Reporting in the journal Nature Communications, researchers at MDC have now described how it forms itself into a its characteristic S-shape and how the ventricles and atria finally develop.

4 Jun 2018

Alfred Blalock’s medical breakthroughs have been saving many lives

The year was 1925, and Alfred Blalock was already a failure at age 26. The born-and-raised Georgian earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Georgia in 1918, then a medical doctorate from Johns Hopkins University four years later. But he didn't get the surgical residency he coveted at Hopkins; he ended up interning in urology instead.

29 Mar 2018

FDA expands approval of smaller size replacement heart valve for treating newborn pediatric patients

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today expanded the approval of a heart valve to include a size small enough to be used in newborn pediatric patients to treat heart defects. Specifically, the agency approved the Masters Series Mechanical Heart Valve with Hemodynamic Plus Sewing Cuff to include the 15-mm valve size, making it the smallest mechanical heart valve approved in the world.

7 Mar 2018

People who survive childhood heart defects may be at elevated risk of developing dementia

People born with heart defects who survive into adulthood may be at higher risk of developing dementia, particularly dementia that starts before 65 years of age, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation.

12 Feb 2018

CHLA participates in clinical trial using stem cells to treat rare congenital heart defect

Children's Hospital Los Angeles is announcing participation in the first-ever clinical trial using stem cells from umbilical cord blood to delay or even prevent heart failure in children born with a rare congenital heart defect that leaves them with half a heart.

5 Feb 2018

Higher blood sugar during first trimester of pregnancy increases child's risk of congenital heart defect

Higher blood sugar early in pregnancy raises the baby's risk of a congenital heart defect, even among mothers who do not have diabetes, according to a study led by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

15 Dec 2017

Congenital heart disease patients more likely to suffer from atrial fibrillation

Patients with congenital heart disease are up to 85 times more likely to suffer from atrial fibrillation as adults. The researchers behind a study, published in the journal Circulation, are now advocating more frequent screenings of the most vulnerable groups.

5 Dec 2017

Study highlights need for more clinical trials to improve treatment of children with heart disease

Less than one per cent of UK children born with congenital heart disease are enrolled in clinical trials looking to improve treatments, research funded by the British Heart Foundation and led by the University of Birmingham and Birmingham Children's Hospital has found.

23 Nov 2017

New study describes how gene-environment interaction leads to congenital heart defects

Infants of mothers with diabetes have a three- to five-fold increased risk of congenital heart defects. Such developmental defects are likely caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

19 Oct 2017

Researchers working towards developing computer model for predicting heart health

Picture this: you're battling heart failure and meeting with your doctor to discuss treatment. Before prescribing anything, the doctor pulls up a virtual model of your heart on her computer and "treats" it with several drugs. A few moments later, she can see how your heart is doing five years down the road.

17 Oct 2017

Duke researchers unravel how fever in early pregnancy increases risk for heart, facial birth defects

Researchers have known for decades that fevers in the first trimester of pregnancy increase risk for some heart defects and facial deformities such as cleft lip or palate. Exactly how this happens is unclear. Scientists have debated whether a virus or other infection source causes the defects, or if fever alone is the underlying problem.

10 Oct 2017

Engineers take closer look at mechanical and chemical attributes of heart defect

Elastin and collagen serve as the body's building blocks. They provide tensile strength and elasticity for a number of organs, muscles and tissues. Any genetic mutation short-circuiting their function can have a devastating, and often lethal, health impact.

28 Jun 2017

Being overweight or obese during pregnancy increases risk of birth defects, study finds

The risk of babies being born with major birth defects increases, the more overweight or obese a mother is, according to a Swedish study. The authors of the research say their findings “underline the importance of having a maternal BMI in the normal range before pregnancy” and that efforts should be made to encourage women of reproductive age to adopt a healthy lifestyle and obtain a normal body weight before conception.

15 Jun 2017

Patients who undergo Fontan surgery for congenital heart defect have liver fibrosis risk, study reveals

Patients who undergo the Fontan operation as children for a complex congenital heart defect are at risk of developing progressive liver fibrosis, a buildup of fibrous deposits, as a result of the circulation created by the surgery, according to a new study.

31 May 2017

Study finds two genetic variants linked to bicuspid aortic valve development

Researchers are working to determine why the aortic valve doesn't form correctly in patients with the most common congenital heart defect: bicuspid aortic valve.

25 May 2017

Researchers identify key regulator gene for formation of cardiac valves

Researchers from the University of Basel in Switzerland have identified a key regulator gene for the formation of cardiac valves - a process crucial to normal embryonic heart development. These results are published in the journal Cell Reports today.

23 May 2017

Pitt scientists discover genes responsible for severe congenital heart disease

The first known identification of two genes responsible for hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a severe congenital heart defect, has been reported by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

22 May 2017

Pediatric cardiology expert advises pregnant women to ask three questions about fetal ultrasounds

For pregnant women, it is standard practice to get a general fetal ultrasound between 18 to 22 weeks of pregnancy. Ultrasound scans, which use high-frequency sound waves to show images of the fetus, placenta and amniotic fluid, help the doctor see how the baby is developing and detect possible birth defects.

5 May 2017