– Dr. R. Vijayakumar, Pediatric Cardiac Surgeon, GKNMH
Congenital Heart Diseases (CHD) are ailments in heart that occur in a person’s body from birth. The cause of CHD is 99% unknown to anyone and it is not preventable. It may arise when the pregnant mother gets general infection or if she takes medicinal drugs, get exposed to radiation while taking X-Ray, CT-Scan etc or due to genetic disorder.
If an anomaly scan is done when the fetus is in the womb for 5 months, the CHD’s presence could be identified. The babies born with the CHDs don’t take milk properly when breastfed, won’t gain proper body-weight and their bodies turn blue. If any of these symptoms occur, it is better to consult medical advice. 95% of babies with CHD can be cured through surgery and live a normal life.