‘An underrated pandemic’: 10% babies are born with congenital heart disease in Kashmir, reveals study

Srinagar: Months of wait and excitement died a sudden death when Insha’s (name changed) newly born daughter was diagnosed with congenital heart disease.

 “The babies with CHD may be acyanotic CHD or cyanotic CHD. In Insha’s case, the baby suffered from Cyanotic CHD. It refers to a bluish or purplish discoloration that occurs when blood levels of oxygen are low,” the pediatrician treating her said.

 The term ‘congenital’ means ‘present from birth’. Congenital heart disease (CHD) is one of the most common birth defects in Kashmir. It is a set of defects that affects the way in which the heart develops and functions from birth and has the capacity to change the way blood flows through a person’s heart.

Lecturer at Government Medical College, Srinagar, Dr. Suhail Naik said newborn babies who have critical congenital heart disease get sick soon after birth and or within the first few weeks of life and subsequently get admitted to the hospital.

“The other babies who don’t have critical congenital heart disease are detected by sequential newborn examination by treating pediatrician. The usual symptoms of congenital heart diseases range from asymptomatic babies to babies presenting with cardiogenic shock,” he said.

He said the symptom spectrum is excessive sweating on feeding, fast breathing, difficulty in sustaining feeding, not thriving well, recurrent chest infections, and bluish discoloration of lips, nails, and body.

A recent study titled, `Burden of congenital heart diseases in a tertiary cardiac care institute of high altitude area’ was conducted by GB Pant Hospital, Srinagar.

The study observed a high prevalence of CHD in the Kashmiri population. “Burden of CHD is highly underestimated, so it is important to estimate the current burden of CHD. A national registry for CHDs is the need of the hour which will help in understanding the actual burden of the diseases and in turn help in reducing mortality and morbidity of these patients,” the study said.

 “A total of 232 patients out of 23000, were found having CHDs measuring a prevalence of 10.5/1000. About 170 (73%) were acyanotics, and 62 (27%) were cyanotic heart patients,” the study said.

Dr Naik stressed that early detection of congenital heart disease is of paramount importance to improve the quality of life of children and prevent morbidity and mortality.

“Also, some common precautions taken during pregnancy that can help reduce the chances of CHD include appropriate age and weight of the mother when she conceives, adequate folic acid supplementation, avoidance of smoking (even passive smoking can be dangerous), maintenance of excellent blood pressure in ladies who are diabetic or have gestational diabetes,” he said.

He also pointed towards the avoidance of medicines that can interfere with the baby’s development or come in contact with radiation, pesticides, or other harmful chemicals.

 “Ensuring vaccinations are up-to-date (since viral infections like rubella or German measles can cause CHD),” Dr. Naik said.