Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a heart-related problem that is present at birth. There are many different types of congenital heart defects that vary in severity. The defects may affect various structures in the heart, including the valves, the veins leading to the heart, the arteries leaving the heart, the connections and interrelationships among these various parts, and even the location of the heart within the chest. 

A physician may suspect that one of these heart defects is present if a child is not growing normally, is having breathing problems at birth, has a heart murmur or has one or more signs (e.g., a bluish tint to the skin called cyanosis). Various diagnostic tests are available to help physicians find the exact cause of the heart problem and to determine the proper treatment.

Each year, roughly 36,000 babies are born with CHD in the United States, which amounts to almost one child in every one hundred being born with some form of CHD. Although there was a time when children born with congenital heart disease often had little hope for a full life, modern medicine now provides multiple treatment options. CHD may be treated with certain medications, minimally invasive procedures, and surgeries that offer the promise of a much brighter and healthier future. There are approximately one million Americans living today with a congenital heart defect. The advancements have been so successful over the last forty years that there are more adults alive today with treated CHD than children with CHD.