May 22nd, 2025 by WCBC Radio

One in every 110 babies in the U.S. is born with heart disease, according to Pediatric Cardiologist Matthew Elias.  He tells WCBC recent innovations in cardiac care have improved ways to detect and treat heart disease, even before birth…

   

“More and more we can detect these issues before birth, have a plan, and sometimes there is even interventions that can be done before birth—that’s still in its infancy—but more and more early in childhood to know exactly what to do for the family.”

Previously, parents had little knowledge that their baby could be born with some kind of heart issue…

   

“One in a 110 babies—40,000 babies per year—It’s the most common defect in the United States, and of those babies who are born with congenital heart disease one out of four have a critical form that generally needs an intervention in the first year of life.”