Case-control Study on Environmental and Genetic Factors of Congenital Heart Disease

Congenital heart defect (CHD) is one of birth defects in the structure of the heart and/or great vessels. Many types of heart defects exist, most of which either obstruct blood flow in the heart or vessels near it, or cause blood to flow through the heart in an abnormal pattern. Heart defects are the leading cause of birth defect-related infant deaths. So far people recognize that the causes of CHD are the conjunct effect of environment and genetic factors, both of which remain unclear. The current stud aims at investigating all the possible perinatal parental environmental risk factors and underlying genetic factors to CHD, including DNA variation and methylations. A hospital-based 1:1 matched case control study is conducted. Subjects were recruited through neonatal screening program, which includes a clinical symptom screening followed by a cardiac ultrasound diagnosis for those with at least one clinical indicator. The blood sample of participant will be collected and the parents of subjects will be interviewed to completed a questionnaire including general information and possible risk factors to CHD.