Babies with this condition have the positions of two important arteries switched. Blood pressure is the force of blood against the walls of the arteries.ĭextro-Transposition of the Great Arteries (also called d-TGA). Many children with COA need to take medicine to lower their blood pressure. He may put in a stent, which is a small mesh-covered tube used to keep the blood vessel open. In this procedure, a provider uses a catheter (a thin, flexible tube) with a tiny balloon that he expands to stretch open the aorta. Babies with COA are treated with surgery or a procedure called balloon angioplasty. This extra stress on the heart can weaken the heart muscle and cause other heart problems. The heart muscles need to work harder to get blood out of the heart. This can reduce or block the flow of blood to the body. In this condition, part of the aorta is too narrow. This is when the heart can’t pump blood as well as it should.Ĭoarctation of the aorta (also called COA). Babies with serious heart defects may develop heart failure (also called congestive heart failure). Fluid in the lungs can make it harder for your baby to breathe. Some of these blood flow problems can cause fluid buildup in the lungs (also called lung congestion or pulmonary edema). Not have enough oxygen to carry throughout the body.Go in the wrong direction or to the wrong place.Heart defects can affect blood flow, causing your baby’s blood to: Veins are blood vessels that carry blood from the body to the heart. The aorta is the main artery that carries blood away from the heart to the rest of the body. Arteries are blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart to the body. They help blood move in the right direction as it’s pumped to other parts of the body. These valves open and close to control blood flow through the heart. There is a wall between the two atria, and a wall between the two ventricles. This is a wall that separates the right and left sides of the heart. The two lower chambers (also called ventricles) pump blood out of the heart to other parts of the body. The two upper chambers (also called atria) receive blood. Heart defects can affect different parts of your baby’s heart, including: But others, like some critical CHDs, may need surgeries over several years. Some heart defects don’t need treatment or can be treated easily. About 1 in 4 babies born with a heart defect (about 25 percent) has a critical CHD. Nearly 1 in 100 babies (about 1 percent or 40,000 babies) is born with a heart defect in the United States each year. Without treatment, critical CHDs can cause serious health problems and death. Babies with critical CHDs need surgery or other treatment within the first year of life. Birth defects can cause problems in overall health, how the body develops or how the body works.Ĭritical congenital heart defects (also called critical CHDs or critical congenital heart disease) are the most serious congenital heart defects. They may affect how the body looks, works or both. Birth defects are structural changes present at birth that can affect almost any part of the body. CHDs can be mild or serious.ĬHDs are the most common types of birth defects. These conditions can affect the heart’s shape or how it works or both.

Congenital heart defects (also called CHDs) are heart conditions that a baby is born with.

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