Fig. 7
From: The molecular mechanisms of cardiac development and related diseases
Current and future advanced treatment strategies for CHD. Currently, CHD is considered a lifelong condition and is primarily treated through early surgical interventions, multiple interventional catheterizations, and cell therapies. However, postsurgery CHD patients often face challenges such as decreased exercise tolerance, multiple cardiovascular and cerebrovascular complications, increased risk of sudden cardiac death, and decreased quality of life. Therefore, lifelong management, including long-term medication and care, is necessary for CHD patients. Advances in technology and a deeper understanding of cardiac development mechanisms aim to achieve earlier diagnosis and prevention of CHD, minimizing its impact and improving patient quality of life and longevity. Early intervention strategies, such as FCI in select CHD patients, are already underway, although further research into related drug therapies and gene treatments is needed. The development of cardiac imaging combined with AI technology enhances CHD diagnosis accuracy, while genetic testing aids in detecting pathogenic variants associated with CHD, facilitating early diagnosis. PGT offers the possibility for early prevention of CHD by identifying genetic defects or chromosomal abnormalities in embryos early in pregnancy; thus, selecting embryos most likely to result in successful pregnancies and healthy offspring is highly desirable. Utilizing AI to integrate multi-omics and clinical data for constructing risk prediction models will enable the identification of more precise genetic or environmental risk factors, further promoting early prevention strategies for CHD in the future. AI artificial intelligence, CHD congenital heart disease, FCI fetal cardiac intervention, PGT preimplantation genetic testing. This figure was created using Adobe Illustrator
