Projects

40,000 babies are born every year with a congenital heart defect- making it the #1 birth defect in America. (source: CDC) Nearly 1 in 100 babies are born with a heart defect in the United States each year. (source: CHPHC)

Congenital heart defects (CHDs) are present at birth. They include abnormalities in the heart’s structure, electrical system and other abnormalities that affect the function of the heart.

There are 40 different types of congenital heart defects. Little is known about the cause of most them. There is not yet a cure for any of them.Congenital heart defects are a leading cause of birth defect-associated infant illness and death.

Congenital heart defects are approximately 60 times more prevalent than childhood cancer. (source: CHOP) In the United States, twice as many children die from congenital heart defects each year than from all forms of childhood cancer combined, yet funding for pediatric cancer research is five times higher than funding for CHD. (source: American Heart Association)

About 25% of babies with a CHD have a critical CHD. Infants with critical CHDs generally need surgery or other invasive procedures within their first year of life. The cost for inpatient surgery to repair congenital heart defects exceeds $1.9 billion a year.

Congenital heart defects occur frequently and are often life threatening, yet research into them is grossly underfunded in relation to the prevalence of the disease. Of every dollar the government spends on medical funding only a fraction of a penny is directed toward congenital heart defect research. Since the founding of the Jayden DeLuca Foundation in 2008, death rates for congenital heart defects have declined by almost 30% due to advances made through research.