Understanding Congenital Heart Disease: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments

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Congenital heart defects refer to defects in the heart that children are born with. These are one of the most common congenital defects globally. In India too, 200,000+ children are born with a congenital heart defect (CHD). These are the numbers of the cases that are recorded – there maybe many more which go undiagnosed and hence untreated. Only 25 per cent of the children diagnosed with a congenital heart defect are able to get the required treatment. A lack of awareness and access to resources are the biggest challenges in children getting timely treatment. Organisations like Genesis Foundation, a congenital heart foundation India has been taking steps to both build awareness and provide financial treatment to those who cannot afford the cost of treatment. The treatment for CHD is expensive and families that do not earn enough to meet their daily needs have to depend on funds they receive as a congenital heart disease donation to support the treatment. Symptoms of Congenital Heart
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Treatment for Congenital Heart Defects during Covid-19

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India is now in the top 5 worst affected countries by the COVID-19 pandemic. Dealing with the unforeseen challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a significant toll on people all across the world including India. With testing protocols in place, a closely monitored testing and surveillance strategy, numbers are steadily rising in India. 

And during such unprecedented times of COVID-19, just like every society and country is facing challenges, so is the Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) community. It is estimated that 8 children per 1000 live births have some form of CHD. The treatment for congenital heart defects has become even more challenging with lack of transport options, significant job losses, delayed COVID-19 test results, overstretched medical staff etc. leading to logistical problems.
Until now, very few children with COVID-19 have become critical or fatal cases. But this does not mean that children are completely safe, because they’re always in the vicinity of adults. And one in five adults who contract the coronavirus, need formal medical care in a hospital. Keeping this mind, hospitals are following certain protocols, once a child is diagnosed with CHD:

●Operating on Only Critical CHD Cases
At the moment, most hospitals are operating on emergency, urgent or critical surgeries only and not elective cases. Doctors are postponing any other heart surgeries, which will not have any adverse effects on the child.

●COVID-19 Screening
Before the treatment for congenital heart defects, the critically ill child is screened for COVID-19 on admission in the hospital. Once the test results are negative, only then the surgeries are proceeded with.

●Screening Parents
If the parents of the critically ill child come from a designated contamination zone, then along with the child, the parents are also screened before the designated medical procedure is carried out.

●Post Operative Care
Post surgical care is extremely important in treatment for congenital heart defects at the moment. Children are quite susceptible to infections as their immunity level is low for a few days post surgery. Utmost care must be taken while looking after a child whose condition is so fragile.


●Following WHO Guidelines
All hospitals and doctors are following WHO guidelines, wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits with patients and regular disinfection of all the surfaces near children admitted for CHD. Doctors also advise reduced interaction of the family with the baby except the primary caretaker or mother.

Genesis Foundation’s Contribution during COVID-19

Genesis Foundation (GF) has been working tirelessly at ensuring that lesser privileged children get adequate treatment for congenital heart defects between the lockdown and COVID-19 pandemic.
We’re partnering with doctors and hospitals to arrange timely medical intervention and surgeries. The doctors associated with us are also trying their best to arrange for transport so that the child affected by CHD gets the earliest medical aid. During the month of May alone between the lockdown, GF helped 40 critically ill children affected with CHD all over India to get the required medical care and treatment.

The Way Forward
Genesis Foundation’s success is possible with the community support it gets, whether it’s with renewed partnerships from CSR partners, donors or patrons. Genesis Foundation is actively supporting the surgeries of children with critical heart defects who otherwise would not have survived. Especially for the under-priveleged who cannot afford medical care due to financial and societal constraints. To know more about the organization, you can visit the website here.
Location: Gurugram, Haryana, India

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