Congenital heart defects are structural problems arising from abnormal function of the heart or major blood vessels.
Defects range in severity from tiny pinholes between chambers, which are nearly irrelevant, to major malformations, which can result in fetal loss or death in infancy or childhood.
- Approximately 40,000 children are born with a heart defect each year
- At least 8 out of every 1,000 infants born each year have a heart defect
- 2.3 per 1,000 live births require invasive treatment or result in death in the first year of life
- 50.9% of deaths from congenital cardiovascular defects in 2002 occurred in Americans under age 15
- In 2000, over 25,000 cardiovascular operations for congenital heart disease were performed
- About 1 million Americans with cardiovascular defects are alive today
- At least 35 congenital heart defects have been identified
Pediatric Cardiology Associates in Baton Rouge
Year 2000 to Present (children from Baton Rouge and surrounding areas, updated 3/28/2011)
- 971 children have been sent to surgical centers
- 350 children have been sent for interventional cardiac catheterization
- 173 children have been referred for electrophysiology issues
Where do our children go for referrals?
- Woman's Hospital (Baton Rouge, LA)
- Our Lady of the Lake (Baton Rouge, LA)
- Texas Children's Hospital (Dallas, TX)
- Ochsner Medical Center (New Orleans, LA)
- Children's Hospital (New Orleans, LA)
- Boston Children's Hospital (Boston, MA)
