Prevalence of congenital heart defects in United States

Investigators have found that the rate of congenital heart defects in the United States may be higher than previously believed.

Previous estimates have indicated that about 1% of all U.S. infants may be diagnosed with congenital heart defects. However, birth registry data may not accurately represent the prevalence of these diseases

In a retrospective study published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, the investigators analyzed all-payer claims data from Colorado between 2012 and 2019. They used diagnosis codes from the American Heart Association-American College of Cardiology harmonized cardiac codes to identify congenital heart defects in the patient population. The investigators then categorized the patients into three groups on the basis of their congenital heart defect severity: simple, moderate and severe.

Among 1.6 million children involved in the study, more than 30,500 of them had at least one congenital heart defect, comprising just less than 2% of the study population. The rates of simple congenital heart defect diagnoses increased from 2012 to 2019.

The findings showed a higher prevalence of congenital heart defects than previous measurements.

Read more: Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes

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