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Showing posts from September, 2020

Be the Change: Donate to Make a Difference in Poor Children’s Lives

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  -Contributed by Prarthna Raheja Millions of poor children in India die every year because they lack quality healthcare, thus suffering from fatal health issues, such as congenital heart defects (CHDs). Genesis Foundation, as a prominent non-governmental agency, is working towards solving the crisis by offering medical treatment to critically ill, poor children. With a donation for heart surgery , you will be able to save lives and bring hope to families who can no longer access quality medical services. The Burden of Congenital Heart Defects in India Congenital heart disease is a very common birth defect in India, found in approximately 200,000 newborns annually . Such defects, such as heart structural malformations, usually require urgent surgical intervention or catheter-based treatment. Failure to treat these in time results in many children living with terrible health conditions or losing their lives. The socioeconomic context aggravates this issue, with families earning les...

How to be cautious about symptoms of CHD during Covid-19 Lockdown

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As the world grappled with the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, many countries including India, imposed a nation-wide lockdown. And this meant an even worsened situation for non-communicable diseases like congenital heart defects. As an organization aiding the t reatment for congenital heart defects in children , Genesis Foundation also faced unique challenges in trying to ensure that children were provided timely medical intervention. For first-time parents and parents of new-born children, they’re often thrust into a world of unknown when something unusual happens to the child. In such a situation, tele-consultation and tele-medicine is highly advisable. Symptoms to Look out For If you as a parent see your child or someone you know whose child exhibits symptoms like rapid breathing, swelling in legs, stomach, around the eyes, difficulty in taking feed, extreme exhaustion or fatigues, incessant crying or a blue tinge to the skin etc., then immediately call your consulting doctor/pedia...

The Role of Cardiac Imaging in Congenital Heart Defects

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We live in the era of non-invasive imaging in medicine. The top rankers in the nation-wide competitive exam for post-graduate medical education invariably choose radiology as their specialization of choice. What is Cardiac Imaging? Imaging is the main pillar of congenital heart disease (CHD) diagnosis and  congenital heart disease treatment . A  century earlier CHD was suspected clinically and diagnosed on an autopsy performed after the child died.   Even four decades earlier, CHD was diagnosed by cardiac catheterization and angiography. This was an invasive procedure which carried a small but definite risk of adverse events. Thankfully, advances in non-invasive imaging have allowed a more accurate and safe diagnosis of CHD in neonates, infants and young children. The three modalities which we use most commonly in clinical practice are the echocardiogram , the computerized tomogram (CT) and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR). There is a peculiar challenge in imagin...