If your child is born with a heart defect - or acquires a heart problem during childhood, you will no doubt have many questions. As you seek answers, on this Web site, from your doctor and from other sources, keep in mind that new therapies and new technologies sized especially for children continue to improve the outcomes for children born with a congenital heart defect or who acquire a heart condition as they are growing up.

Heart diseases in children are described as "congenital" or "acquired."  

A congenital heart defect results from abnormal development of the heart and blood vessels before birth.  It is a defect that is present at birth.

An acquired heart disease is one that develops during childhood or young adulthood.  

Heart defect is the most common birth defect, affecting one in every 100 infants.  Common congenital heart defects include: 

• Atrioventricular septal defect
• Coarctation of the aorta
• Tetralogy of Fallot
• Transposition of the great arteries
• Ventricular septal defects
• Hypoplastic left heart syndrome

An increasingly broad range of therapies have improved survival rates and helped children born with heart defects embrace life like other kids. According to the American Heart Association, from 1994 to 2004, death rates for congenital heart defects declined more than 30 percent.  Today more than 95 out of 100 children born with a heart defect survive. And the chance that they will be able to live a normal life is very high as well.

Among children who develop an acquired heart disease, the most common conditions include: 

• Arrhythmia, or irregular heart beat
• Cardiomyopathy
• Kawasaki disease
• Rheumatic fever