Is Congenital heart disease hereditary?
Lynn: My daughter is now 23 years old and Professor Kingsley operated on her when she was four months old. She had a condition called patent ductus. I would like to find out whether this condition is hereditary. If she has children, will they be born with the same condition? Rob: Certainly patent ductus is not hereditary. There are certain congenital cardiac defects where the incidence is slightly higher in subsequent siblings, but patent ductus is not one of them. Patent ductus is the communication between the aorta and the pulmonary artery, which is normally open while the baby is in the mother’s womb. It takes blood away from the lungs because clearly the baby can’t breathe while it’s in the womb. But shortly after birth once the child starts breathing the ductus closes naturally. Now if it doesn’t close we have to close it surgically. Lynn: That’s right. Well you did it very successfully and she’s really had a wonderful childhood. She was a top athlete, she ran for her province and