Congenital heart defect deaths declining

ATLANTA, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- U.S. deaths due to congenital heart defects have declined, but death rates in blacks have been consistently higher than in whites, researchers say.

Researchers at the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, say congenital heart defects are structural abnormalities of the heart at birth. A variety of conditions -- mild to severe malformations -- are classified as congenital heart defects.

The study, reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, indicates the decline in deaths from congenital heart defects was about 15 percent for all racial-ethnic groups other than whites and more than 25 percent among whites.

"That population -- non-Hispanic whites -- is the largest subgroup and is driving the decline in the population overall," lead author Suzanne Gilboa says in a statement.

"Infant deaths consistently account for the highest proportion of deaths due to congenital heart defects."

In the study, infant deaths account for 48 percent of the deaths that were higher among males than females, except in people age 65 and older. Hypoplastic left heart syndrome, an underdeveloped left side of the heart, was the most common fatal congenital heart defect listed and accounted for about 10 percent of the cases.