Over the past 30 years there has been increasing
awareness of the importance of early referral of
newborn with heart disease to special center.
Continuous advances in technology and training in
pediatric cardiology and pediatrics have improved long
term outcome and promised better quality of life.1 Like
other developing countries, Bangladesh is facing a
multitude of health problems. Pediatric heart diseases
are only one of them. Congenital heart disease (CHD)
occurs in 5-8 out of every 1000 live births.2,3
Approximately one quarter of these children have
critical congenital heart disease (CCHD), which by
definition requires surgery or catheter intervention in
the first year of life and responsible for more deaths
than any other type of malformation.4