Congenital heart defects are a structural abnormality present at birth. These defects affect the way the heart can function to send blood to the body. These can range from a mild defect to a critical defect.

Congenital heart disease affects 1 in 100 births. This equates to about 40,000 births in the US each year establishing it as the most common type of birth defect. 1 in 4 of patients with CHD have what is considered a critical defect.

With medical advancements survival is improving. Now, 95% of patients with non-critical defects and 69% of patients with critical defects surviving to adulthood. With this survival, 20% to 30% of patients experience other physical problems or developmental delays which can lead to the need for more therapies.

Screening should be performed at least 24 hours after birth prior to discharge from the hospital. This screening is done using pulse oximetry to determine the amount of oxygen in the blood. A failed screen may indicate a critical defect and will lead to further testing. As of 2018, all states require a CHD screen as part of the normal newborn screen. However, not all CHD is caught on this screen.

It was estimated that the amount of adults living with CHD now surpasses the number children. CHD puts patients at high risk for other diseases or may experience common diseases that present in different ways. This stressed the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle and regular check ups.

Annual cost of CHD pediatric hospital admissions was $5.6 billion in 2009. Beyond hospitalization costs, patients and families experience large amounts of missed work days, transportation costs, needed resources and therapies, other out of pocket costs, and impacts on quality of life.