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.

Researchers show the effectiveness of folic acid in preventing congenital heart defects

The Canadian policy of fortifying grain products with folic acid has already proved to be effective in preventing neural tube defects.

15 May 2009

Research sheds new light on causes of sepsis

New research from Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and the Stanford University School of Medicine is helping physicians unravel the cause of a deadly and mysterious bowel disease that strikes medically fragile newborn babies.

27 Apr 2009

Vitamin E during pregnancy puts babies at risk of heart defects

New research by scientists in the Netherlands has found that vitamin E supplements taken during pregnancy can increase the risk of heart defects in babies.

13 Apr 2009

Environment plays role in hypoplastic left heart syndrome

A congenital heart disease that often leads to death in newborns is significantly more common during the summer, leading researchers to believe that the environment, and not just genes that affect the heart, may play a role in causing "mini-epidemics" of this disease.

30 Mar 2009

Gilead commences phase II trial of Cicletanine for pulmonary arterial hypertension

Gilead Sciences, Inc. has announced that it has begun enrolling patients in a Phase II clinical trial of cicletanine hydrochloride (cicletanine), an oral agent in development for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

24 Mar 2009

Pulmonary hypertension in children may result from reduced activity of gene regulator

Too little activity by gene regulators called PPARs appears to be a major player in the irreversible lung damage that can occur in children with heart defects, researchers say.

5 Mar 2009

FDA clears new immune response claim for CryoValve SG pulmonary human heart valve

CryoLife, Inc. has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared a new claim for the CryoValve(R) SG pulmonary human heart valve.

18 Feb 2009

Researcher develops method to combat congenital heart disease in children

Congenital heart defects account for five times more deaths annually than all childhood cancers combined.

9 Feb 2009

Trial of Gore-tex-type material to stop strokes

A study is under way at Rush University Medical Center using a small, soft-patch device made of a Gore-tex-type material - often used to make durable outerwear - to close a common hole found in the heart called a patent foramen ovale (PFO) in order to prevent recurrent strokes and transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) in adults.

18 Nov 2008

Racial disparities found in access and use of organ transplantation in children listed for heart transplant

Minority children awaiting a donor heart for transplant have a higher death rate than white children, even after controlling for clinical risk factors, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2008.

11 Nov 2008

Cardiopulmonary bypass for child heart surgery does not affect IQ

The use of cardiopulmonary bypass does not cause short-term neurological problems in children and teenagers after surgery for less complex heart defects, according to pediatric researchers.

11 Nov 2008

Medtronic announces U.S. trial data on transcatheter valve for congenital heart disease

Today at the annual scientific sessions of the American Heart Association, the first U.S. clinical trial data on the Melody transcatheter pulmonary valve were presented. These findings also represent the first U.S. data on transcatheter valves in a population with congenital heart disease and the first reported U.S. data on the use of a transcatheter valve in the pulmonary position. The Melody valve is currently investigational in the U.S.

10 Nov 2008

New guidelines for congenital heart disease

These days most children born with congenital heart disease live well into adulthood, thanks to innovative surgical, interventional and medical treatments.

8 Nov 2008

How the Nodal gene family keeps the heart in the right (asymmetric) place

Asymmetry is crucial for the heart proper functioning, and now, scientists from the Institute Gulbenkian of Science in Portugal and Harvard University, have discovered that a family of genes, called Nodal, is crucial determining this asymmetry by controlling the speed and direction of the heart muscle cells during embryonic development.

2 Nov 2008

Novel scaffold to fix broken hearts

Broken hearts could one day be mended using a novel scaffold developed by MIT researchers and colleagues.

2 Nov 2008

Tiny hearts may have big problems with complementary medicine

Giving supplement such as herbs, vitamins, and other natural health products to children taking Warfarin for congenital heart defects could increase their risk of clots, bleeding, and other complications, nurse practitioner Mary Bauman and Dr. Patti Massicotte told the 2008 Canadian Cardiovascular Congress, co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society.

28 Oct 2008

New devices and research for mechanical circulatory support in pediatrics

New devices and research for mechanical circulatory support in pediatrics from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Pediatric Circulatory Support Program will be discussed at the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) 28th Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions.

10 Apr 2008

Simple laboratory test predicts risk of kidney injury after surgery

A simple laboratory test may provide a new way for doctors to identify patients at risk of developing potentially severe acute kidney injury (AKI) after surgery up to three days before the problem would otherwise be detected, reports a pilot study in the May 2008 issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology .

14 Mar 2008

Simple laboratory test predicts risk of kidney injury after surgery

13 Mar 2008

New biodegradable film reduces scarring following open heart surgery

A new, biodegradable film designed to reduce the severity of scarring following open heart surgery in young children appears to be safe and effective, according to researchers attending the annual meeting of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons in Ft. Lauderdale.

30 Jan 2008