Congenital heart defect: Difference between revisions
| Line 35: | Line 35: | ||
Sometimes CHD improves with no treatment necessary. At other times the defect is so small and does not require any treatment. Most of the time CHD is serious and requires surgery and/or medications. Medications include diuretics, which aid the baby in eliminating water, salts, and digoxin and in strengthening the contraction of the heart. This slows the heartbeat and removes some fluid from tissues. Some defects require surgical procedures to repair as much as possible to restore circulation back to normal. In some cases, multiple surgeries are needed to be performed to help balance the circulation. Interventional cardiology now offers patients minimally invasive alternatives to surgery. Device closures can now be treated with a standard transcatheter procedure using a closure device mounted on a balloon catheter. | Sometimes CHD improves with no treatment necessary. At other times the defect is so small and does not require any treatment. Most of the time CHD is serious and requires surgery and/or medications. Medications include diuretics, which aid the baby in eliminating water, salts, and digoxin and in strengthening the contraction of the heart. This slows the heartbeat and removes some fluid from tissues. Some defects require surgical procedures to repair as much as possible to restore circulation back to normal. In some cases, multiple surgeries are needed to be performed to help balance the circulation. Interventional cardiology now offers patients minimally invasive alternatives to surgery. Device closures can now be treated with a standard transcatheter procedure using a closure device mounted on a balloon catheter. | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 18:08, 4 January 2013
| Congenital heart defect | |
 | |
|---|---|
| Subvalvular Ventricular Septal Defect: Gross, good view of defect with overriding aorta. Image courtesy of Professor Peter Anderson DVM PhD and published with permission © PEIR, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Department of Pathology |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Associate Editor-in-Chief: Keri Shafer, M.D. [2]
Overview
Major categories
Patent ductus arteriosus
The ductus arteriosus is a temporary pathway in the foetal heart between the pulmonary artery and aorta, which allows blood to bypass the fetus's nonfunctioning lungs until birth. Normally, the ductus closes within a few hours or days of birth; when it does not, the result is patent ductus arteriosus. This defect is common in premature infants but rare in full-term infants.
Hypoplasia
Hypoplasia can affect the heart, which typically results in the failure of either the right ventricle or the left ventricle to develop adequately, leaving only one side of the heart capable of pumping blood to the body and lungs. Hypoplasia of the heart is rare but is the most serious form of CHD; it is called hypoplastic left heart syndrome when it affects the left side of the heart and hypoplastic right heart syndrome when it affects the right side of the heart. In both conditions, the presence of a patent ductus arteriosus (and, when hypoplasia affects the right side of the heart, a patent foramen ovale) is vital to the infant's ability to survive until emergency heart surgery can be performed, since without these pathways blood cannot circulate to the body (or lungs, depending on which side of the heart is defective). Hypoplasia of the heart is generally a cyanotic heart defect.
Obstruction defects
Obstruction defects occur when heart valves, arteries, or veins are abnormally narrow or blocked. Common obstruction defects include pulmonary valve stenosis, aortic valve stenosis, and coarctation of the aorta, with other types such as bicuspid aortic valve stenosis and subaortic stenosis being comparatively rare. Any narrowing or blockage can cause heart enlargement or hypertension.
Septal defects
The septum is a wall of tissue which separates the left heart from the right heart. It is comparatively common for defects to exist in the interatrial septum or the interventricular septum, allowing blood to flow from the left side of the heart to the right, reducing the heart's efficiency. Ventricular septal defects are collectively the most common type of CHD, although approximately 30% of adults have a type of atrial septal defect called patent foramen ovale. Septal defects may or may not cause cyanosis depending on the severity of the defect.
Cyanotic defects
Cyanotic heart defects are called such because they result in cyanosis, a bluish-grey discoloration of the skin due to a lack of oxygen in the body. Such defects include persistent truncus arteriosus, total anomalous pulmonary venous connection, tetralogy of Fallot, transposition of the great vessels, and tricuspid atresia.
Signs and Symptoms
Symptoms and signs are related to the type and severity of the heart defect. Some children have no signs while others may exhibit shortness of breath, cyanosis, chest pain, syncope, sweating, heart murmur, respiratory infections, underdeveloping of limbs and muscles, poor feeding, or poor growth. Most defects cause a whispering sound, or murmur, as blood moves through the heart causing some of these symptoms. All of these symptoms occur at a young age of a child or infant and are typically found during a physical examination.
Treatment
Sometimes CHD improves with no treatment necessary. At other times the defect is so small and does not require any treatment. Most of the time CHD is serious and requires surgery and/or medications. Medications include diuretics, which aid the baby in eliminating water, salts, and digoxin and in strengthening the contraction of the heart. This slows the heartbeat and removes some fluid from tissues. Some defects require surgical procedures to repair as much as possible to restore circulation back to normal. In some cases, multiple surgeries are needed to be performed to help balance the circulation. Interventional cardiology now offers patients minimally invasive alternatives to surgery. Device closures can now be treated with a standard transcatheter procedure using a closure device mounted on a balloon catheter.
References
See Also
External Links
- It's My Heart, Inc. - A National Non-Profit Organization who supports and advocates for those affected by Congenital Heart Defects
- Template:DMOZ
- General information about congenital heart defects
- Down's Heart Group. A charity offering support and information relating to heart conditions associated with Down's Syndrome.