Congenital heart defect

A congenital heart defect is a defect in the structure of the heart and great blood vessels of the newborn.

Epidemiology

Slightly less than 1% of all newborn infants have congenital heart disease. Eight defects are more common than all others and make up 80% of all congenital heart diseases, whereas the remaining 20% consist of many independently infrequent conditions or combinations of several defects. Ventricular septal defect (VSD) is generally considered to be the most common type of malformation, accounting for about 1/3 of all congenital heart defects.

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The incidence is higher when a parent or a sibling has a heart defect (4-5%), in stillborns (3-4%), abortuses (10-25%), and premature infants (2%).

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