Congenital Heart Disease

Congenital heart diseases are structural abnormalities of the heart present from birth.

Around 4,600 babies are born in the UK every year with congenital heart disease. Many need specialist medical treatment or surgery to survive.

Mapping heart defects

Now retired, BHF Professor Robert Anderson and his team at the Institute of Child Health mapped out the details of heart defects.

This knowledge, combined with advances in imaging technology, means cardiologists can give these babies the best chance of life, by identifying and treating abnormalities as early as possible.

The 'switch' procedure

BHF Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub developed surgical techniques to treat complex congenital defects. The ‘switch’ procedure is now used to correct a defect in babies born with wrongly connected heart vessels. 

Reducing trauma for young patients

With BHF funding, Professor Philipp Bonhoeffer, pioneered a revolutionary technique of non-invasive heart ‘surgery’ to replace the faulty heart valves found in some congenital conditions.

Before, the only option was traumatic and risky open heart surgery. His intricate procedure feeds the replacement valve into the heart via a blood vessel in the groin. Over 100 people have benefited from this new treatment so far.

Specialist support

A network of specialist BHF Heart Nurses provide vital care and support to patients and their families across the country.

As they grow, these patients now have access to specialist support throughout their lives thanks to BHF Professor John Deanfield and Dr Jane Somerville who established the new cardiology speciality of Grown-Up Congenital Heart disease (GUCH).

What’s next?

The BHF continues to support research to improve the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart disease. Teams across the country are investigating the genetics behind why some babies are born with heart defects, with the ultimate aim of preventing them altogether.

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