International holidays - Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Day

Congenital Heart Disease Awareness Day is celebrated annually on February 14th. It was approved by the Children's Heart Society, a charitable non-profit organization from Canada, specializing in supporting families with children who have congenital or acquired heart disease. The initiative was subsequently supported by non-profit organizations from other countries. On February 14, events are held around the world to disseminate information regarding congenital heart disease (CHD). Fundraising is also being conducted to research the causes of this malformation and develop methods for its diagnosis and treatment. A congenital heart defect is an anatomical defect in the structure of the heart itself and/or large vessels. About 1% of children in the world are born with this pathology, so it is quite common. It occurs before the eighth week of pregnancy. More than 100 types of such disorders are known. Some of them are more common in boys, others - in girls, some are “neutral”, that is, they are diagnosed with equal frequency in newborns of both sexes. Conventionally, congenital heart defects are divided into two groups: 1. "White". They differ in that venous and arterial blood do not mix. 2. "Blue". With them, a right-to-left shunt of blood is observed, with arterial and venous blood mixing. People with this defect are characterized by a specific bluish skin tone. Sometimes birth defects can be diagnosed immediately after the baby is born or even in the womb; in other cases, they can appear in adulthood. Their occurrence is influenced by the following reasons: 1. Genetic. This group includes predisposition, chromosomal disorders (structural and quantitative), gene mutations. 2. Ecological. These are x-rays, sun rays, a woman’s use of certain medications or alcohol during pregnancy, smoking, as well as some diseases of the expectant mother (for example, diabetes, lupus, rubella). Risk factors also include: • the presence of endocrine diseases in the child's father; • the presence of people with congenital heart disease among relatives; • the threat of termination of pregnancy in the first trimester; • a woman's history of fetal death. Timely diagnosis is critically important in the treatment of congenital heart disease. Symptoms of the defect are varied and depend on its specific type. The most common include: retardation in the development and growth of the child, pain in the heart, difficulty breathing, shortness of breath during exercise, arrhythmia, pallor or cyanosis of the skin. If at least one of them appears, you should immediately consult a doctor. Of course, this applies to cases where the pathology was not diagnosed in utero or immediately after birth. To identify a disorder, a number of techniques are used, for example, ECG, echo-CG, and cardiac radiography. Treatment for congenital heart disease is usually surgical. It can be supplemented with drug therapy. Today, 97% of children with heart defects who were operated on in a timely manner live a full life in the future. Operations are usually performed on a stopped heart. This involves using a heart-lung machine, which temporarily takes over the function of the heart in the body. In some cases, abdominal surgery can be replaced with endovascular surgery. It has fewer negative consequences for the patient and allows him to be discharged from the hospital within a few days after surgery. In the absence of timely diagnosis and treatment, complications and even death are possible.