Congenital heart disease: Saving lives and securing liveliness with early primary care and expert family care

Abstract

Pertinent perspectives for practical applications is advantageous professionalism. Congenital heart diseases (CHDs) are of varied types, severity, and complexity. Simple scientific approach along with sophistication is required for successful management at all levels. We gleaned important information from published evidence and authoritative resources and have put things in practical perspective. These include current prevention, care, correction, cure, and rehabilitation strategies for robust practices. Prospective prevention is with preconception counseling and addressing environmental factors. Fetal echocardiography and nondirective genetic counseling are important. Early detection and expert diligence is desirable. The suspicion is clinical. A number of clinical and investigative diagnostic modalities are available and should be utilized as guided by the clinical cues. Medical management includes general health maintenance, immunizations, monitoring, and complications treatment. Pediatric interventional cardiology is making rapid strides and treating many types of lesions. Understanding of procedure done is a prerequisite of follow-up care. Surgery is of curative, reparative, or palliative types. After surgical correction in early childhood long-term sequelae are rare. After reparative surgery some have life-long sequelae and some have significant late impairment. The number of postintervention/surgery survivors into adulthood is increasing. Microsurgical techniques are leading the way for precision and fewer complications. Follow-up care with “Ten Points Information and Action Plan (TP-IAP)” is suggested. The Armed Forces scenario involves frequent movements to difficult and harsh conditions. Special precautions for affected children needed. Cardiovascular health is enhanced by avoiding a sedentary lifestyle and obesity. Various intrinsic and extrinsic factors limiting functioning need to be suitably addressed.

Keywords

• environmental factors
• genetic counseling
• interventional cardiology
• obesity
• physical activity
• prospective prevention