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DALLAS, May 17, 2021 Detecting a critical heart defect before birth (congenital heart defects) is less likely when a mother lives in a rural area, lives in a neighborhood with low socioeconomic status or is Hispanic, according to new research published today in the American Heart Association s flagship journal Circulation.
Diagnosing a heart defect before birth reduces infant death rates, increases access to prompt medical treatment, improves neurodevelopmental outcomes and decreases the risk of brain injury for the infant after birth. The benefits of prenatal diagnosis for heart defects have been recognized for years, yet prenatal detection occurs in less than 60% of congenital heart disease cases in many U.S. regions, said the study s first author Anita Krishnan, M.D., an associate professor of pediatrics and associate director of echocardiography at Children s National Hospital in Washington, D.C.