Placental clues to congenital heart disease: a modeling approach

Congenital heart disease ( CHD ) remains the most common birth defect and a leading contributor to global infant morbidity and mortality. Early diagnosis improves outcomes, yet current screening methods frequently miss CHD during routine prenatal screening. The placenta, which develops in parallel with the fetal heart and shares critical molecular pathways, represents an underexplored diagnostic tissue. We highlight clinical, epidemiological, and mechanistic insights that link placental abnormalities to CHD and explore how imaging, in vitro models, and multiomics can improve our understanding of the placenta-heart axis. Leveraging these tools will offer opportunities for earlier CHD detection and illuminate avenues for intervention.