Congenital Heart Disease

Congenital heart defects are seen in babies and children since birth. While these defects have been there since the evolution of man, their detection and treatment due to improvement in medical care and technology has been a relatively recent phenomenon - a little more since 50 years or so.

India has been a late starter in this sphere compared to other western countries due to other health care priorities, but has caught up quickly in the last two decades in the capabilities to provide excellence in care for children with heart ailments. Certain changes in India have caused congenital heart problems to assume significance. Nuclear families, smaller families where each child is a valued member, improved earnings of young parents, advances in non-invasive diagnostic modalities like echocardiography, availability of surgical skills and infrastructure with better ICU care and more successful results, and gradual reduction of infant mortality due to infectious diseases, have all contributed to congenital heart defects becoming an important issue in children. Also the fact, that early timely treatment could assure a near normal quality of life to these kids to the joy of parents has also contributed to its growth.

Problem in India

India has a large population. With a perceived incidence of congenital heart disease in 8 per 1000 live births in children, nearly 180,000 kids are born yearly with this problem. Of these 60,000 to 90,0000 are critical and need early treatment. Nearly 10% of the infant mortality seen is due to congenital heart defects. As the number of centres capable of handling this is very few, a huge number of children are added to this pool each year with many of them, who might have lived a near normal life, dying, due to unavailability of treatment to them. This, coupled with economic constraints, leaves only a small fraction that has access for appropriate treatment.

Heart Care in Mumbai

Mumbai has been a leader in many fields of medical care and has some of the finest centres of medical excellence. However, in the field of congenital heart care it has hopelessly lagged behind when compared to South India or Delhi. A whole lot of children from Mumbai have had to go to centres located outside for treatment much to the inconvenience of the families. This has been solely to the type and culture of medical practice prevalent here - which favours individuals operating in many hospitals, than a team in one place.

Congenital heart disease treatment needs a full time and dedicated team of professionals with full time Paediatric Cardiac Surgeons, Paediatric Cardiologists, Anaesthesiologists, Intensive Care Specialists, Perfusionists, Nurses and other paramedical staff. In essence, it needs a dedicated institutional practice which has not been seen in this part of the country till now.

Kokilaben Hospital is aiming to usher in a new pattern of medical care - that of a full time institute of excellence to treat congenital heart disease and bridge this long-felt lacuna seen in Mumbai.

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