Congenital Heart Disease Overview

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is not a single disease but a general name for any type of malformation of the heart, heart valves or major (great) blood vessels that is present at birth.
About one in every 120 babies is born with some form of heart defect. Because most of these babies grow to adulthood, there are now about one million adults in the United States with congenital heart disease. Many people with congenital heart defects can live full and healthy lives.

Congenital heart disease is a heart–related problem that is present since birth. There are many different kinds of specific congenital heart defects. They may affect various heart structure, such as the valves, the veins leading to the heart, the arteries leaving the heart or the connections among these various parts.

A physician may suspect that one of these heart defects is present if the child is not growing normally, has a Heart murmur or has one or more signs (e.g., a bluish tint to the skin called cyanosis). Tests are now available to help the physician find the exact cause of the problem and determine the proper treatment.

Each year, roughly 36,000 babies are born with congenital heart disease in the United States. Although there was a time when children born with congenital heart disease often had little hope for a full life, modern medicine now has a variety of medications, minimally invasive procedures, and surgeries that offer the promise of a much brighter and healthier future. About a million Americans alive today have congenital heart disease.