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British Heart Foundation 'Reflections of Research' Un-break Baby's Heart
24 June 2016

Un-break Baby's Heart

Around one per cent of babies are born with congenital heart defects – a problem with the structure or function of their heart that can be life-threatening. And although survival is growing year on year, with millions of children around the world making it to adulthood, many aren’t so lucky and it’s still a leading cause of infant death. Around a quarter of babies born with congenital heart defects need surgery within the first year of life, sometimes requiring repeated operations to patch up missing or damaged regions as their heart grows. But it might not have to be this way in the future. Scientists are investigating how to use heart cells like these – taken from a new-born baby’s heart during surgery – to create tissue grafts that would behave just like the normal structures of the heart, growing along with the baby and meaning that just one operation would be enough.

Written by Kat Arney

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BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

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