RESUMO
The genetic knowledge of parents of children with congenital heart disease, who had received genetic counseling, was compared with that of a control noncounseled group attending the same cardiac clinic. A follow-up questionnaire showed that both groups had excellent knowledge of the nature of their children's heart lesions. The counseled group had significantly more accurate knowledge of their recurrence risks. Inasmuch as the reproductive attitudes of some of these parents were found to be influenced by genetic information, parents of children with CHD should be given a better understanding of recurrence risks for CHD than many of them possess.
PIP: Parents of a group of children with congenital heart disease attendi ng the Yale-New Haven Pediatric Clinic were given genetic counseling which included an explanation of the genetic basis for their child's cardiac lesion and the risk of probable recurrence. This group was questioned 6 months later and compared to a control group of parents which did not receive the genetic counseling lecture. There was a highly significant (at the p less than .005 level) difference in genetic knowledge and knowledge of recurrence risk between the counseled and the control group. This type of counseling is recommended for parents of children with congenital heart disease.