Dr. Pavan Patel completed his MBBS and MD Paediatrics from Government Medical College, Surat. He received his Doctorate of National Board ( DrNB) degree in Paediatric Cardiology from National Board of Examinations, New Delhi in 2020. He was a part of the first batch of three year superspeciality degree course (DrNB) in paediatric cardiology in India. He passed his DrNB exit exam from prestigious AIIMS, New Delhi. He was trained from Narayana Health’s first hospital in India, Rabindranath tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences, Kolkata. He has worked at various hospitals of Narayana Health in East India and has served as a paediatric cardiologist at UN Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre, Ahmedabad . He has a wide range of experience in treating heart problems in children and adults with congenital heart diseases.
The world recognizes February as Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) awareness month.
The world recognizes February as Congenital Heart Defect (CHD) awareness month and celebrates February 7-14 as International CHD week.
The current scenario in India.
Every year approximately 240,000 newborns are born in our country with congenital heart defects. However, there is a great mismatch between the burden of congenital heart disease and the quantum of paediatric cardiac services available in our country. The governments understandably have been focused on more basic issues like taking care of the more fundamental causes of infant and child mortality like hunger, malnutrition, and communicable diseases. CHD as a cause of mortality becomes important only once these problems have been taken care of. The other fact is that all CHD patients will not die if left untreated and the unfortunate who survive are handicapped and incapacitated and therefore are a drain on the family and society, both financially and psychologically.
Medical insurance (or the lack of it !)
Medical Insurance in India, without exception, excludes all congenital defects from its ambit. The wealthy and affluent can afford anything, the poor have BPL schemes, but the tax-paying middle class are the orphans left to fend for themselves. Unfortunately, children with birth defects are barred from any insurance! We have categorized every other deserving category, but the child born with a defect has always fallen on our collective blind spot.
Fetal echocardiography.
The incidence of CHD is 8:1000 live births, and is higher in the antenatal population. Fetal echocardiography as a diagnostic service is still underutilised in India. Fetal echocardiography can pick up heart defects as early as 16-20 weeks and can give parents an informed choice regarding the future of their unborn child. Diagnosing CHD prior to birth will help in reducing the burden and will significantly impact infant mortality rates as CHD is the most common birth defect.
Timely intervention is crucial for the successful outcome. Delay can jeopardize the course of treatment as well as cause post-surgery complications. The child may then grow up with a suboptimal heart function — compromised physical activity through childhood and throughout adult life. Normal life is possible with just a simple step of undergoing surgery/transcatheter intervention at the right time in early childhood.
Dr. Pavan Patel completed his MBBS and MD Paediatrics from Government Medical College, Surat. He received his Doctorate of National Board ( DrNB) degree in Paediatric Cardiology from National Board of Examinations, New Delhi in 2020. He was a part of the first batch of three year superspeciality degree course (DrNB) in paediatric cardiology in India. He passed his DrNB exit exam from prestigious AIIMS, New Delhi. He was trained from Narayana Health’s first hospital in India, Rabindranath tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences, Kolkata. He has worked at various hospitals of Narayana Health in East India and has served as a paediatric cardiologist at UN Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre, Ahmedabad . He has a wide range of experience in treating heart problems in children and adults with congenital heart diseases.
