“There are 150,000 new cases of congenital heart disease in China every year.” Cardiac surgeons at Wuhan Union Hospital point out that many of the cases of fetal death that occur during pregnancy are also caused by fetuses with congenital heart disease. The bad news is that congenital heart disease is difficult to detect through prenatal diagnosis and can only be diagnosed after the fetus is born. The most common cardiovascular disease in children is congenital heart disease, mainly in the first three months of fetal development, due to some reasons the fetal cardiovascular development is halted or abnormal development. The more recognized causes are viral infections such as rubella and influenza in pregnant women, hormones or other drugs that damage the fetus in pregnant women, exposure of the abdomen or pelvis of pregnant women to X-rays, ultrasound, radionuclides, etc., or severe nutritional deficiencies and lack of oxygen in pregnant women. Wuhan Union Hospital Cardiac Surgery Department Hong Hao Children with inexplicable poor health should be screened for congenital heart disease Most infants with congenital heart disease can be diagnosed before the age of 3. These infants will have obvious symptoms of heart disease, shortness of breath and difficulty in breathing when they move. However, there is also a proportion of mildly affected children who have no specific symptoms and fail to detect a diagnosis until they are adults.” I’ve seen a patient with congenital heart disease not diagnosed until he was in his 50s, by which time he already had severe heart failure and missed surgery and the best opportunity for treatment.” Doctors at Wuhan Heart Hospital say there are three common and not easily detected types of congenital heart disease: atrial septal defects, ventricular septal defects, and patent ductus arteriosus. Childhood treatment can completely cure congenital heart disease Children with congenital heart disease sometimes do not show specific symptoms of congenital heart disease. The cardiac surgeon at Wuhan Union Hospital reminds that if parents find that their child is growing slowly, has poor fitness, is not athletic, or has a cold and fever without any other clear cause, it is recommended to have a heart ultrasound to screen for congenital heart disease. There is no good treatment for infants with congenital heart disease if it progresses to the heart failure stage, when the damage to the heart is irreversible. However, if detected and treated early, especially in childhood, this heart disease can be completely cured and will not affect growth and development. Children can usually undergo surgery for congenital heart disease within the age of 3 years, and some can even be earlier depending on individual differences. The surgical treatment of congenital heart disease used to require open-heart surgery, but now doctors can perform minimally invasive surgery for congenital heart disease, which is popular among parents of children with congenital heart disease because it ensures efficacy while the surgical wound is smaller.