Congenital Heart Disease: causes and risk factors

Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) is a multifactorial disorder based on both genetic and environmental factors involved in development. The basic problem lies in the structure of heart leading to CHD that occurs in walls, valves, arteries and veins of heart. During cell cycle, the gene that controls this process may mutate, causing disturbance in any portion of heart leading to disturbed blood flow, blood flow in wrong direction or complete blockage. Defect may range from simple with no manifestations to complex with severe symptoms. Simple defects need no treatment while some babies with complex birth defects during birth require special care, vaccination, medication or otherwise treated with surgery. The incidence of CHD has declined from 80 to 20% due to progress in heart surgery techniques, medical treatment and interventional cardiology. Various genetic and non-genetic increase the susceptibility for CHD. The diagnosis and treatment of CHD has greatly improved in recent years. Almost all the children with CHD survive to adulthood and spend healthy and active lives after being treated.