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Advances in diagnosis and treatment allow many children with congenital heart defects to survive to adulthood, which means that more and more adults are living with congenital heart disease. Even if your congenital heart defect was repaired in childhood, you need regular medical follow-up to maintain good health.

Treatments for congenital heart defects include medicines, surgery, and cardiac catheterization procedures. Many congenital heart defects do not require treatment at all. However, children with critical congenital heart defects will need surgery in the first year of life.

Some congenital heart defects are diagnosed during pregnancy or soon after birth. Others may not be diagnosed until adulthood. Your or your child’s doctor will perform a physical exam and order diagnostic tests and procedures based on what he or she finds in the physical exam.

Signs, symptoms, and complications will vary based on the type of congenital heart defect that you or your child have, and may be different for newborns and adults.

Almost all newborns in the United States are screened for congenital heart defects in the first few days after birth. However, if you are at high risk for having a baby with a congenital heart defect, your doctor may recommend screening before the baby is born or strategies to help prevent a congenital heart defect.

The risk of having a baby with a congenital heart defect is influenced by family history and genetics, the mother’s health, sex, and exposure during pregnancy to environmental factors, such as smoke or certain medicines. Other medical conditions can also raise your risk for having a baby with a congenital heart defect.

Congenital heart defects happen because the heart does not develop normally while the baby is growing in the womb. Doctors often do not know why congenital heart defects occur. Researchers do know that genetics can sometimes play a role.

There are many types of congenital heart defects. They range from simple to complex and critical.

CDC works to identify causes of birth defects and opportunities to prevent them. By applying a public health approach incorporating three essential elements—surveillance or disease tracking, research to identify causes, and prevention research and programs—we can rapidly translate scientific findings into appropriate public health interventions.