Our Cause

Understanding Congenital Heart Disease

Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) refers to a variety of structural defects in the heart present from birth. These defects can affect the heart walls, valves, or blood vessels, leading to impaired heart function. CHD is the most common type of birth defect, affecting approximately 1 in 100 live births globally. In India, each year, 2,00,000 children are born with CHD, only 20,000 get operated in Government set up, rest don not survive or are added to pool of waitlisted children.

30% of the children need treatment in first year of life.

Status Statements

With remarkable improvements in diagnostic and management, a significant proportion of children born with CHD are expected to lead a normal, productive life 1

Ref: 1. Rychik J, Ayres N, Cuneo B, Gotteiner N, Hornberger L, Spevak PJ, et al. American Society of Echocardiography guidelines and standards for performance of the fetal echocardiogram. J Am Soc Echocardiogr 2004;17: 803-10.

CHD is present in 40-60% of children with down syndrome (DS) and it is the principal variable that determines the morbimortality during the first two years of life of these patients 2

2 Evans P. R.1950Cardiac anomalies in mongolism. Br Heart J. 12258262

Challenges with CHD:

Inadequate infrastructure
Limited Government Pediatric Cardiac Diagnosing & Treatment Centers
Lack of Awareness
Very few Pediatric Cardiologists & Pediatric Cardiac Surgeons
Expensive Treatment
No Insurance Cover