Summary Congenital heart defects caused 217 000 deaths (95% UI 177 000–262 000) in 2019.

Definition This cause includes livebirths with any heart condition present at birth, including but not limited to malformations of great vessels, congenital valvular heart disease and patent ductus arteriosus, ventricular septal defect and atrial septal defect, single ventricle and single ventricle pathway heart defects, and complex congenital heart defects excluding single ventricle and single ventricle pathway models.

Total sources
Incidence 0
Prevalence 1623
Remission 0
Causes of death 3014
Other 105
Table 1: Total sources used in GBD 2019 estimation
What is new in GBD 2019?
  • •We revised data processing to include age-sex splitting using location-year-specific empirical age-sex patterns.
  • •We performed data adjustments for alternate definitions (alternates included when stillbirths or terminations were included, chromosomal anomalies excluded, or datum included only a subset of defects) prior to modelling.
  • •We revised clinical admininstrative data processing to better account for inpatient:outpatient visits.
  • •We revised DisMod-MR 2.1 covariates to match those that were most predictive in CODEm.
  • •We revised model settings to better account for possibility of remission in some heart defects (congenital heart parent; malformations of great vessels, valvular heart disease and patent ductus arteriosus; ventricular septal defect and atrial septal defect).
Prevalence
Incidence
Deaths
YLLs
YLDs
DALYs
Cases
(millions)
Rate (per 100 000)
Cases
(millions)
Rate (per 100 000)
Deaths
(millions)
Rate (per 100 000)
YLLs
(millions)
Rate (per 100 000)
YLDs
(millions)
Rate (per 100 000)
DALYs
(millions)
Rate (per 100 000)
2019
Both Sexes
13·3
(11·5
to 15·4)
183·5
(159·3
to 212·6)
3·12
(2·40
to 4·11)
48·2
(37·0
to 63·5)
0·217
(0·177
to 0·262)
3·2
(2·6
to 3·9)
18·1
(14·7
to 22·1)
272·4
(220·3
to 333·7)
0·591
(0·286
to 0·981)
8·1
(3·9
to 13·4)
18·7
(15·2
to 22·6)
280·5
(226·9
to 341·0)
Females
6·64
(5·74
to 7·68)
185·6
(160·7
to 215·8)
1·44
(1·11
to 1·92)
46·2
(35·4
to 61·3)
0·0950
(0·0755
to 0·116)
2·9
(2·3
to 3·6)
7·90
(6·23
to 9·69)
245·2
(193·1
to 301·7)
0·292
(0·142
to 0·485)
8·1
(3·9
to 13·4)
8·19
(6·48
to 10·0)
253·3
(200·0
to 310·7)
Males
6·68
(5·81
to 7·71)
181·3
(157·5
to 210·3)
1·68
(1·29
to 2·20)
50·1
(38·5
to 65·8)
0·122
(0·0952
to 0·152)
3·5
(2·7
to 4·4)
10·2
(7·88
to 12·8)
297·8
(229·4
to 375·2)
0·299
(0·144
to 0·498)
8·1
(3·9
to 13·4)
10·5
(8·23
to 13·1)
305·9
(238·3
to 383·7)
Percentage change 2010-19
Both Sexes
5·3%
(4·4
to 6·1)
–1·2%
(–2·0
to –0·2)
–1·5%
(–3·0
to 0·3)
–0·3%
(–1·8
to 1·6)
–20·8%
(–33·4
to –4·5)
–21·6%
(–34·2
to –5·4)
–21·6%
(–34·4
to –5·1)
–21·9%
(–34·8
to –5·4)
5·3%
(3·3
to 6·6)
–1·4%
(–2·9
to –0·2)
–21·0%
(–33·4
to –4·9)
–21·5%
(–34·0
to –5·4)
Females
6·8%
(5·7
to 8·1)
0·1%
(–1·2
to 1·5)
1·2%
(–1·2
to 3·9)
2·4%
(0·0
to 5·1)
–21·1%
(–34·2
to –5·0)
–22·1%
(–35·2
to –5·7)
–21·9%
(–35·2
to –5·3)
–22·4%
(–35·6
to –5·6)
6·4%
(4·4
to 8·2)
–0·5%
(–2·3
to 1·3)
–21·2%
(–34·2
to –4·6)
–21·8%
(–34·9
to –5·2)
Males
3·8%
(2·6
to 5·0)
–2·4%
(–3·3
to –1·4)
–3·7%
(–5·6
to –1·7)
–2·4%
(–4·3
to –0·4)
–20·6%
(–34·2
to –2·6)
–21·3%
(–34·8
to –3·2)
–21·4%
(–35·1
to –3·1)
–21·6%
(–35·3
to –3·1)
4·2%
(1·8
to 5·9)
–2·3%
(–4·1
to –0·7)
–20·8%
(–34·4
to –2·9)
–21·2%
(–34·8
to –3·1)
Numbers in parentheses are 95% uncertainty intervals.
Table 2: Global prevalence, incidence, deaths, YLLs, YLDs, and DALYs in counts and age-standardised rates for both sexes combined, females, and males, 2019, with percentage change between 2010 and 2019
Deaths YLLs YLDs DALYs
1990 29th 17th 127th 18th
2010 41st 18th 134th 28th
2019 53rd 23rd 135th 35th
Table 3: Rank among most detailed causes for global deaths, YLLs, YLDs, and DALYs in 1990, 2010, and 2019, for both sexes combined
Figure 1: Composition of DALYs by YLLs and YLDs for both sexes combined, 2019
No Legend
Figure 2: Age-standardised DALY rates for each location by SDI, both sexes combined, 2019
Figure 3: Composition of DALYs by YLLs and YLDs, age group, and sex, 2019
No Legend
Figure 4: Age-standardised DALY rates (per 100 000) by location, both sexes combined, 2019