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Risk factors
By Mayo Clinic staffCongenital heart disease often results from problems early in your development, often before you were born. Certain environmental and genetic risk factors may play a role in the development of your heart defect. They include:
- German measles (Rubella). If your mother had rubella while pregnant, this could have affected your heart development.
- Diabetes. If your mother had type 1 or type 2 diabetes, it may have interfered with the development of your heart. Gestational diabetes generally doesn't increase the risk of developing a heart defect.
- Medications. Taking certain medications while pregnant is known to cause birth defects, including congenital heart defects. Medications that increase risk include the acne drug isotretinoin (Accutane) and lithium (Eskalith), which is used to treat bipolar disorder, a condition that causes intense mood swings. Drinking alcohol while pregnant may also contribute to the risk of heart defects.
- Heredity. Congenital heart disease appears to run in families and is associated with many genetic syndromes. More than one-third of children with Down syndrome — which is caused by an extra 21st chromosome (trisomy 21) — have heart defects. A missing piece (deletion) of genetic material on chromosome 22 also causes heart defects. Genetic testing can detect such disorders during a baby's development.
References
- Williams RG, et al. Report of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Working Group on Research in Adult Congenital Heart Disease. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2006;47:701.
- Warnes CA. The adult with congenital heart disease: Born to be bad? Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2005;46:1.
- Murphy DJ, et al. ACC/AHA/AAP recommendation: Task force 6: Training in transition of adolescent care and care of the adult with congenital heart disease. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2005;46:1399.
- Congenital Heart Defects. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/chd/chd_all.html. Accessed March 24, 2009.
- Walsh EP, et al. Arrhythmias in adult patients with congenital heart disease. Circulation. 2007;115:534.
- Thierren J, et al. Clinical update on adults with congenital heart disease. The Lancet. 2003;362:1305.
- Perloff JK, et al. Pregnancy in women with congenital heart disease: Specific lesions. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 24, 2009.
- Grogan M. (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. April 10, 2009.
