What is the prognosis for congenital heart disease?
The outlook for children with congenital heart disease has improved markedly in the past two decades. Many types of congenital heart disease that would have been fatal now can be treated successfully. Because many children with these defects survive into adulthood, physicians and patients are reminded that the patients will require continued medical observation as they mature. Research on diagnosing heart defects when the fetus is in the womb may lead to future treatment to correct defects before birth. Promising new prevention methods and treatments include genetic screening and the cultivation of cardiac tissue in the laboratory that could be used to repair congenital heart defects. As scientists continue to advance the study of genetics, they also will better understand genetic causes of many congenital heart diseases. For example, scientists just discovered a potential cause of atrioventricular canal defects in the fall of 2003. Source: The Gale Group.
