Severity of Congenital Heart Defects Affects Long-Term Somatic Development.

ABSTRACT: Treatment options and therefore general health in children with congenital heart defects (CHD) improved tremendously over the last decades. Growth is an important marker to evaluate healthy development, especially in patients with chronic diseases. This study aimed to evaluate growth in children with CHD compared to their healthy peers. A retrospective, longitudinal analysis of standardized measurements of height, weight, and head circumference of children with CHD aged 0 to 18 years (n = 18,591) was conducted based on data provided by the German pediatrician network CrescNet. These data were compared to the data of healthy children from the same region. Inclusion was based on the ICD-10 codes for CHD; patients with other growth-altering diseases or medications were excluded. CHD were grou

SUBMITTER: Kiess A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12855346 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature