HD Medical, Inc.: HD Medical's HD Steth Screens Over 50,000 Children for Congenital Heart Defects
- Plans to Expand Screenings to Over 500,000 Children Worldwide -
In recognition of World Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) Awareness week, HD Medical Inc. today announces it has screened over 50,000 children for CHDs using HD Steth. These screenings have been conducted at multiple locations in India, helping to save over 35 lives to date. HD Medical plans to expand the screenings to over 500,000 children worldwide. The children diagnosed with CHD were provided life-saving treatments and surgeries by the Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Hospitals in India.
CHDs are the most common types of birth defects. One out of 100 babies are born with CHD worldwide and nearly 40,000 infants in the U.S. are born each year with CHDs. In India, each year approximately 300,000 children are born with CHD and approximately 25 percent die before their first birthday. The absence of early screening and sophisticated pediatric care is causing over 250 deaths among children every day in India. Conventional stethoscopes used for screening have resulted in 28 percent false positives and 51 percent false negatives when used by non-specialists and health workers. While the Ultrasound Echocardiogram is a more accurate alternative, high equipment cost and low availability of trained medical professionals have limited their usage.