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Showing posts from September, 2020

Providing Lifesaving Treatment for Children with Heart Defects – Start Donating Today

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  -Contributed by Aarohi Arora Shalini (name changed), a 10th-grade student from western India, had been feeling unusually tired, breathless, and uneasy for months. After several tests, doctors diagnosed her with a rare heart defect, Ruptured Sinus of Valsalva (RSOV) to the Right Atrium, along with heart failure and severe pulmonary hypertension. The condition required urgent treatment, but her mother, the sole earner, couldn’t afford it. With support from Genesis Foundation, Shalini received timely surgery at one of their   partner hospitals . She was discharged in stable condition and is now recovering well. This is one of the many lives Genesis Foundation strives to save through timely medical intervention and compassionate care. Genesis Foundation is an NGO in Haryana, working in the field of Congenital Heart Disease Donation , providing end-to-end support. They provide financial assistance to families with monthly income of under Rs.20,000. Over the last 24 years, they ha...

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...