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Down syndrome with Heart Defect

Background

Down syndrome is caused by trisomy of chromosome 21 (the child carries an extra chromosome 21). Forty per cent of children with Down syndrome have an associated heart defect. These heart conditions vary from small holes in the heart to more complex problems which may require major open heart surgery. In a small number of children the condition is so severe that they are inoperable, but the majority are suitable for surgery and their prognosis is very good.

What are the symptoms? View What are the symptoms?

Medical text written November 1991 by Contact a Family. Approved November 1991 by Professor M Patton, Professor of Medical Genetics, St Georges Hospital Medical School, London, UK and Dr J E Wraith, Consultant Paediatrician, Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Manchester, UK.Last updated June 2003 by Dr P E F Daubenay, Consultant Paediatric and Fetal Cardiologist, Royal Brompton Hospital, London, UK.

 

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