Tobacco Implicated in Certain Types of Congenital Heart Disease

A paper presented at the recently concluded annual scientific sessions of the American Heart Association has demonstrated that the children of women who smoke during early pregnancy are at an increased risk for a specific grouping of congenital heart diseases known as atrial septal defects (ASD) or ventricular septal defects (VSD).

According to the paper's lead researcher, Sadia Malik MD (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock), this is the first research to show specifically that septal defects are linked with maternal smoking. It builds on a previous study - the Baltimore/Washington Infant Study - that showed that smoking was associated with an increased risk of right-sided heart problems. The septum is the "wall" that divides the heart into the right and left atria ("receiving chambers") and the right and left ventricles (the "pumping chambers" with the right ventricle pumping oxygen-poor blood from the body to the lungs and the left ventricle pumping oxygen-rich blood returning from the lungs to the rest of the body).

"This is really another reason not to smoke." said Dr. Malik "There are 35,000 infants born every year in the US with congenital heart disease, and if all women of reproductive age stopped smoking, it would result in 2,000 fewer babies born with heart disease."

Dr. Malik's study was taken from a University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences-treated population and was based on 566 infants with congenital heart disease, 491 without congenital heart disease, and their parents. Mothers of both sets of infants were asked whether they smoked from one month before pregnancy through the end of pregnancy. Women's exposure to tobacco smoke at home or work during the same period was also determined.