Declining mortality from congenital heart disease related to innovations in diagnosis and treatment: a population-based study.

The majority of live births with severe congenital cardiac malformations that do not undergo intervention of some form die prematurely. The population of Malta provides an ideal closed cohort from which to monitor trends. We have observed a significant declining specific mortality from congenital heart disease, and circumstantial evidence relates this decline to the introduction of new techniques used in the diagnosis and treatment of these malformations.