Facts About CHD

Did you know?

 ❤️ CHD (Congenital heart disease) is the #1 birth defect. 

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 ❤️ Congenital means conditions present at birth. People may discover their condition as an adult, but if born with it, it’s considered a CHD. 

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❤️ 1 in 100 (or 1%) babies are born with a CHD. 

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❤️  40,000 babies are born each year with CHD. Thousands will die before their 1st birthday. 

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❤️ CHD is more common than all forms of childhood cancer combined yet research funding is 10x less. 

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❤️ Every 15 minutes a baby is born with CHD in the US.

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❤️ A baby's risk of CHD is increased by 3x if a parent or sibling has CHD

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❤️ The most common CHD is Ventricular Septal Defects (VSD), the most common critical CHD is Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF).

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❤️ 10% of all adult CHD patients didn't find out about their CHD until adulthood.

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 ❤️ There is NO CURE. There are surgical repairs and transplants but they are not a cure, they only intend to increase length and quality of life. The heart will never be “normal” and will need to be monitored for life. 

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❤️ About 20% of CHDs are caused by a genetic syndrome.

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❤️ The survival rate of critical CHDs is only 75% to age 1, 69% to age 18, and the survival rate to age 18 is over 85%. 

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❤️ Maternal diabetes is a recognized possible cause of CHDs.

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❤️ The heart is fully formed between 4 and 8 weeks gestation, often before mom even knows she is pregnant. Only 1/3 of CHDS are caught before birth, on average around 20 weeks gestation.

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❤️ About 1 in 4 babies (25%) born are considered critical defects, requiring surgery to survive the first year of life.