Heart Defect News and Research

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Cornell researchers discover natural triggers that may reduce congenital heart defects among newborns

Cornell biomedical engineers have discovered natural triggers that could reduce the chance of life-threatening, congenital heart defects among newborn infants. Those triggers can override developmental, biological miscues, leading to proper embryonic heart and valve formation.

5 Jan 2016

Gene mutations that cause congenital heart disease also lead to neurodevelopmental delays

Some of the same gene mutations that cause heart defects in children also lead to neurodevelopmental delays, including learning disabilities. A large study of congenital heart disease (CHD) reveals overlapping genetic influences during early childhood development.

9 Dec 2015

IQWiG finds certain benefit for pulse oximetry screening in newborns with congenital heart defects

There is a hint of a benefit of pulse oximetry screening as an add-on test to existing standard examinations for detection of critical congenital heart defects in newborns: More cases are detected by additional screening than by the two clinical examinations U1 and U2 alone. This means that newborns can be treated at an early stage and may be protected from severe late complications.

31 Oct 2015

Preeclampsia during pregnancy linked to heart defects in infants

Pregnant women with preeclampsia have a higher risk of delivering an infant with a congenital heart defect. An extensive study of 1.9 million mother and infant pairs by a team at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre has shown significant association between these diseases in mothers and newborns from early pregnancy.

22 Oct 2015

Pregnant women with elevated blood-sugar levels more likely to have babies with heart defects

Pregnant women with elevated blood-sugar levels are more likely to have babies with congenital heart defects, even if their blood sugar is below the cutoff for diabetes, according to a new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine and Stanford Children's Health.

12 Oct 2015

Researchers design specialized catheter for fixing holes in the heart

Researchers from Boston Children's Hospital, the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Karp Lab at Brigham and Women's Hospital have jointly designed a specialized catheter for fixing holes in the heart using a biodegradable adhesive and patch.

6 Oct 2015

Children's Hospital Los Angeles successfully implants Melody Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve in child actor

Cardiologists from Children's Hospital Los Angeles successfully implanted a Melody Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve in child actor Max Page, the boy who made headlines playing mini Darth Vader in a 2011 Super Bowl ad for Volkswagen.

28 Aug 2015

Arterial shunt in hybrid palliation better for hypoplastic left heart syndrome treatment

Children born with the major congenital heart defect hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) often must undergo a series of corrective surgeries beginning at birth. While most have the standard three-stage Norwood procedure, a hybrid strategy has been introduced to offset some disadvantages associated with the Norwood surgeries. In a report in The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, investigators compare whether outcomes can be improved if an arterial shunt is used as a source of pulmonary blood flow rather than the more conventional venous shunt as part of the hybrid strategy of HLHS surgical reconstruction.

14 Aug 2015

Certain metabolites in the blood could predict clinical outcome in children undergoing heart surgery

The study, published today in the journal Critical Care Medicine and carried out at Royal Brompton Hospital, followed children undergoing surgery for congenital heart disease, and found that by analysing metabolites in the blood -- molecules created as a result of metabolism -- it was possible to predict a child's clinical outcome.

6 May 2015

Older mothers who exercise during pregnancy can reduce baby's risk of congenital heart defects

In people, a baby's risk of congenital heart defects is associated with the age of the mother. Risk goes up with increasing age. Newborn mice predisposed to heart defects because of genetic mutations show the same age association.

2 Apr 2015

New app directly connects single ventricle heart defect patients to doctors

A powerful new app is directly connecting single ventricle heart defect patients to their doctors, dramatically improving their monitoring while they recover from heart surgery at home. Girish Shirali, MBBS, FACC, FASE, Co-Director of the Ward Family Heart Center at Children's Mercy Kansas City, will report today on how the technology is changing patient care at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2014.

21 Nov 2014

High risk for congenital heart defects in Down syndrome provides tool to identify changes in genes

Down syndrome is the most common chromosomal abnormality in humans, involving a third copy of all or part of chromosome 21. In addition to intellectual disability, individuals with Down syndrome have a high risk of congenital heart defects. However, not all people with Down syndrome have them – about half have structurally normal hearts.

25 Oct 2014

Study: Tbx5 protein contributes to formation of epicardium, pericardium, coronary vessels

Congenital heart defects are the most common birth defect, affecting 8 out of every 1,000 newborns according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. In the U.S., more than 35,000 babies are born annually with some sort of heart defect.

16 Oct 2014

New pediatric heart-defect patches enhance electrical connections between cells

Carbon nanotubes serve as bridges that allow electrical signals to pass unhindered through new pediatric heart-defect patches invented at Rice University and Texas Children's Hospital.

24 Sep 2014

Seattle Children's Research Institute receives grant to improve health of infants with heart defects

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Office of Orphan Products Development has awarded Seattle Children's Research Institute a $1.6 million grant to lead a 4-year, multi-site clinical trial aimed at improving long-term health in infants born with a heart defect.

24 Sep 2014

Computational biologists develop program for easy diagnosis of hereditary illnesses

In the case of a cough or a sore throat, the doctor can usually diagnose a common cold immediately. However, the diagnosis of hereditary illnesses like cystic fibrosis, which affects the metabolism, or Huntington's disease, which leads to cognitive decline, is much more complex.

29 Jul 2014

CHOP launches Fetal Neuroprotection and Neuroplasticity Program

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia today launched the Fetal Neuroprotection and Neuroplasticity Program. Building on growing evidence of the interaction of heart disease and brain development in the fetus, this Program will systematically investigate innovative therapies to protect brain development and to prevent brain injury as early as possible before birth.

26 Jun 2014