The Burden of Congenital Heart Defects

The number of adults with heart defects appears to be on the rise, a new study found.

This study found that, between 2000 and 2010, the total number of United States adults and children living with congenital heart defects increased by 40 percent.

A congenital heart defect is a problem with the structure of the heart that a patient is born with. Due to advances in medical care and surgery, people born with heart defects are more likely to survive than ever before, but these problems often require lifetime care, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researchers behind this study noted.

This study found that, in 2010, an estimated 1.4 million adults and 1 million children in the US were living with congenital heart defects. In 2000, those figures were substantially lower.

"This is a substantial population of adults in the United States who have survived infancy and childhood are living with congenital heart defects," said first study author Suzanne Gilboa, PhD, an epidemiologist with the CDC, in a press release. "They need the appropriate care in order to have full and productive lives."

This study was published in the journal Circulation.

This research was funded by various health and science institutions, including the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. The authors disclosed no conflicts of interest.