So what IS a CHD?

CHD stands for ‘Congenital Heart Defect’ and is an abnormality of the heart which occurs soon after conception and often before the mother is aware that she is pregnant. The defects can range in severity from simple problems, such as "holes" between chambers of the heart, to very severe malformations, such as complete absence of one or more chambers or valves.

What does Congenital mean?

Congenital means 'born with' and/or 'from birth'. Sometimes a CHD can go undetected until adulthood but nowadays the majority are detected at birth. With modern medicine these defects are usually corrected with surgery. Some babies receive their first open heart surgery at just a few hours or days old.

How common is it? 

Congenital Heart Defects are the Number One birth defect in the UK affecting 8 out of every 1,000 live births – that’s almost 1%. Unfortunately CHD is also the Number One cause of death from a birth defect, killing twice as many children as cancer every single year. 

Types of CHD

There are 35+ known types of CHD, which can be present in almost any combination, so that every person’s defect is very different.  CHD's can be fixed, often via multiple open heart surgeries, but cannot be totally cured. This means the heart must be monitored by cardiologists throughout life. 

How many people are affected? 

It has been estimated that there are currently 250,000 adults with CHD in the UK, approximately 1,000,000 in the US and similar numbers in proportional terms in Europe and the rest of the world.

Even so, you probably think that you don't know anyone with a CHD…

Wrong! 

You know me (or in any case are reading my blog!) and, unless you look very closely, you won't be able to see my scars - even my new ones from June 2012 are pretty faded now!

 

My CHD is called Tetralogy of Fallot (ToF) and it occurs in approximately 400 cases per one million live births. It consists of 4 defects, which are Pulmonary stenosis, VSD (ventricular septal defect), right ventricular hypertrophy & overriding aorta.

Picture from www.heartbirthdefect.com

Increasing Awareness

The first step to saving lives is to increase awareness of CHD. Following on from awareness will come funding and research, and this is the key for hope and survival for sufferers and their families.

Please help support awareness of Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) by sharing this blog with your friends - this information could save lives.

 

You can also find out more information on all types of CHDs, as well as symptoms, tests and types of surgery on http://www.chd-uk.co.uk/