One of the most common types of birth defects in the United States and around the world are congenital heart defects. The good news, however, is that babies who are born with these defects are living longer and enjoying healthier lives than any generation before them. That’s what the statistics say, anyway, but the information has a certain bias to it. That’s because newborns with a congenital heart defect are tracked, but previous generations are not tracked in any way.
Statistics on Congenital Heart Defects
1. CHDs affect nearly 1% of births per year in the United States, or about 40,000 children annually.
2. The numbers of mild CHDs that are detected are increasing, although serious defects have remained relatively stable over time.
3. The percentage of infants that are born with a CHD that is considered a critical defect: 25%.
4. Infants with critical CHDs generally need surgery or other procedures in their first year of life.
5. There are 1 million adults who are believed to be living with an undiagnosed CHD right now in the US alone.
6. 4.2% of all neonatal deaths were due to a CHD in a recent study.
7. From 1999–2006, there were 41,494 deaths related to CHDs in the United States.
8. About 95% of babies born with a non-critical CHD are expected to survive to 18 years of age.
9. The percentage of babies born with a critical CHD who live to see their first birthday: 75%.
10. A minimum of 15% of CHDs are associated with genetic conditions.
11. Up to 30% of infants with a congenital heart defect also have other developmental or physical problems that may affect the quality of life.
12. Hospital costs for the population of individuals with CHDs in 2004 were about $1.4 billion.
13. Each year over 1,000,000 babies are born worldwide with a congenital heart defect.
14. 10% of all CHD cases evaluated in an Adult CHD clinic are first diagnosed in adulthood.
15. More than half of all people who are born with a congenital heart defect will require at least one invasive surgery during their lifetime.
16. Twice as many children die from congenital heart defects each year than from all forms of childhood cancer combined.
17. In the United States, 1 in 150 adults are expected to have some form of congenital heart disease.
18. 26.6% of infants who died of a birth defect had a heart defect.
19. The chances of infant mortality due to a CHD is higher in the African American and black racial demographics than it is for Caucasians.
20. 90% of children who were born with a heart defect will now survive into adulthood.
Congenital Heart Defect Explained
These defects are present at birth and can greatly affect the structure of an infant’s heart. It can change the way that blood flows through the heart and throughout the rest of the body and can be present in a variety of different stages. Some defects are very small and easy to correct, such as a hole that is present in the heart. Others are critical defects because parts of the heart are either formed poorly or not present at all.
With several different congenital heart defects that can affect an infant, it is important to know the signs and symptoms of a CHD in case diagnostic equipment does not catch the issue first. One of the most common side effects of this defect is a lack of oxygen distribution. This means the infant will have lips that are tinted blue and their nails may also have a blue tint. Infants with a CHD tire easily, even when being fed, and may have troubled breathing.
Sometimes congenital heart defects are detected for some time. It is not uncommon for an adult to be diagnosed with a CHD. If one is suspected, then an echocardiogram will be ordered to help confirm the diagnosis. Sometimes nothing but putting actual eyes on the organ, however, will let a doctor know what is going and how it should be fixed.
Testing and Treatment
Having early testing during a pregnancy and meeting regularly with an OB-GYN are critical to the process of discovering a CHD early. When these defects can be planned for as soon as possible, even critical CHDs can be repaired and children can go on to lead a relatively healthy, normal life.
It’s the costs of this defect that are staggering, but the costs have been increasing relative to the overall increase of health care rates. This is the biggest obstacle that many families face. When the average cost of treating a congenital heart defect can be tens of thousands of dollars, especially when hospital stays are included in the cost, then people are becoming financially ruined just because they are trying to save the life of their child.
Some heart defects have genetic links. Some CHD caused have never been identified. There are certain risk factors that have been identified that when eliminated, can drop the risks of a CHD developing. One of the biggest preventable causes of a defect is smoking during a pregnancy. A mother who has a BMI above 30 at the time of pregnancy also has a greater chance of having a child with a congenital heart defect. Folic acid deficiencies, the exposure to certain chemicals and solvents, and even air pollutants are also believed to cause these defects.
Because more adults than ever before are living with a heart defect and need specialized care, centers are forming around the world to provide proactive treatments. As more children continue to grow up and beat the odds of having a heart defect, the need for these treatments and the costs of their required treatments is going to expand. That’s why the time to control costs and expand research into this childhood killer is right now.
We can change the world together by supporting more research into CHDs and finding ways to lower health care costs – even if that’s just one life at a time.