Babies born in poor or rural communities who have heart defects run a higher risk than those in more affluent or urban communities, due to the lack of prenatal ultrasound conducted, according to research from pediatricians offering their results at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in San Diego on Monday. Ultrasounds can detect birth defects and other abnormalities while the baby resides in the womb, but without an ultrasound, parents are left in the dark as to a baby’s prenatal defects.

The author of the study that will be presented, study author Garick Hill, a pediatric cardiologist at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, stated, "Routine ultrasounds are the key to identifying most congenital heart disease and many other birth defects prior to birth. This allows us to have babies delivered at a hospital that is equipped to handle their complex needs. While this study shows we have made great progress in identifying the most dangerous forms of heart disease before birth, we can and must do more, particularly in the poor, rural communities."

Hill joined other researchers to analyze the charts of 535 babies born at the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin between 2007 and 2013 who had heart surgery or catheter intervention before they were 31 days old. The team examined the babies to see if their heart disease was diagnosed prenatally or after their birth. They found that between 2007 and 2013, there was an improvement in detection of critical congenital heart disease before birth; 44% of babies suffering were detected in 2007, 69% in 2013. The rate of detection vacillated; tricuspid atresia was diagnosed in every case, but other defects, such as total anomalous pulmonary venous connection, were rarely diagnosed.

Hill added, "The reason for the difference in poor, rural communities is likely due to the health care resources available. These communities did almost as well in diagnosing heart disease with standard ultrasound views but not nearly as well with more complex views and heart disease. Therefore, more resources and training in these more complex views should be targeted to the medical providers in the poor, rural communities."

According to the CDC, 1% of babies born each year in the United States suffer from a congenital heart defect (CHD); roughly 25% of babies with a CHD have a critical CHD, meaning that they require surgery or other procedures in their first 12 months.