Pediatric cardiologists found that the mother's health during pregnancy can partially explain the racial differences in outcomes of congenital heart disease in infants, Charleston-based Medical University of South Carolina said Aug. 26.
The study, published in the Journal of Pediatrics, evaluated records of over 8,000 infants and their mothers from diverse populations. It found that placental and metabolic syndromes in the mother during pregnancy accounted for 25 percent of disparity in Blacks and 18 percent in Hispanics.
Some conditions associated with this disparity are high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes and high cholesterol levels.
"The journey of a child or adolescent or patient with congenital heart disease doesn’t start at birth," MUSC Children's Health pediatric cardiology fellow Stephanie Santana, MD, said. "It starts in that mother-baby unit and all the influences and factors that negatively or positively impact that environment."