From Other Journals

Excerpt

This is a retrospective study to assess congenital heart disease (CHD) mortality trends and to measure the difference in CHD mortality by ethnicity. Data were collected from death certificates filed in the United States from 1999 to 2006. CHD-related deaths accounted for 0.21% of all mortalities. The age-standardized mortality rates were 1.78 per 100,000 for CHD-related mortality and 1.20 per 100,000 for mortality resulting from CHD. Mortality resulting from CHD was highest among non-Hispanic blacks compared with other ethnicities and was also higher among male than female individuals. Mortality resulting from CHD declined 24.1% overall and 3.6% annually during the period of 1999–2006. Unspecified CHD (34.1%) contributed the most to overall CHD mortality, although among specific diagnoses, hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) was the major cause (10.9%). Infant mortality accounted for 48.1% of all mortality caused by CHD. The median age at death for all CHD combined was one year. Mortality varied significantly by diagnosis: from <1 month (patent ductus arteriosus, 11 days; HLHS, 14 days; and common truncus, 30 days) to >40 years (ventricular septal defect, 44 years; and atrial septal defect, 72 years). …