Doc talk: Congenital heart defect and treatment

THE NUMBERS: Congenital heart defect accounts for 20 per cent of infant mortality.

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New Delhi: There is an alarmingly high incidence of heart defects from birth in India, every year about two lakh children are born with a congenital heart disease (CHD) which can range from a weak heart, to an absent valve, or a hole in the heart. Dr Amit Varma, Director Critical Care, Escorts, explains all you want to know about CHD and its treatment as he focuses on children born with the disease.

ECMO or Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation is a technique, which provides cardiac and respiratory oxygen support to patients who have critically weak hearts and lungs. Eight in 1000 babies are born with a heart so fragile that they have to be put on an external device, which takes up the functions of pumping blood and respiration.

Congenital heart defect accounts for 20 per cent of infant mortality, but there's no cause for alarm as a first trimester fetal screening during pregnancy can detect CHD, but if you've missed it then as an expecting parent, you need to know that if your child shows any of these symptoms then you need to consult your pediatrician immediately.

“Bluish colouration of lips and nails, fast breathing, poor feeding, poor weight gain, suffer from repeated chest infections,” says Senior Cardio Pediatrician Escorts Hospital Dr Ashutosh Marwah.

The reason for this disorder is still being researched but experts feel that the cause is mainly genetic and lifestyle related.

ECMO treatment is in advanced stages in India, complete recovery is a mater of few days, but only if the patient is brought in the nascent stages. That's it for this week, for health related queries do write into at health@ibnlive.com.