Congenital heart defects can be both simple defects with no symptoms at all or complex defects with severe, fatal symptoms. Most of these defects can be treated. It is only in case of by birth defects that patients need special care and treatment. However, this number is very small.
The diagnosis and treatment of these heart defects has noticed a great improvement in past few years. The advent of technologies has made things easier and more positive for patients. Due to this most children who have heart defects by birth, can be treated before they reach adulthood. In almost all cases, they live a happy and healthy life afterwards.
Most of the patients of heart defects require special care throughout their life. These patients have to take care of their health insurance, employment, pregnancy and contraception, and other health issues.
Types of Congenital Heart Defects
In the patients with congenital heart defects, the normal flow of blood changes through the heart because some parts of the heart remain undeveloped at the time of birth.
Holes in the Heart (Septal Defects)
The two chambers of heart are separated by the septum which is a wall like structure. This ensures that blood from both sides does not mix. In some cases an infant is born with a hole in the septum which allows the blood of both chambers to mix.
On the other hand considerable amount of blood may leak from one atrium to the other in case the ASD is medium to large. Such ASDs do not fill or close on their own.
In 50% cases the ASDs either fill on their own or the size is so small that no treatment is required. On the other hand medium to large ASDs are repaired using a catheter procedure or open-heart surgery.
Simple congenital heart defects may also affect the heart’s valves. The function of these valves is to control the flow of blood from the atria to the ventricles and from the ventricles into the two large arteries connected to the heart. There can be following defects in valves:
Complex Congenital Heart Defect
In case of complex congenital heart defects a surgery has to be performed to correct them. Modern technologies have now made it possible for doctors to treat and repair even the most complex defects with high success rate.
Tetralogy of Fallot is one of the most common complex heart defects. It is a combination of four defects:
These four defects indicate that enough blood is not reaching the lungs to get oxygen, and oxygen-poor blood flows out to the body.
What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Congenital Heart Defects?
Some of the heart defects show sign and symptoms which depend on the number, type, and severity of the defects. When the defect is severe signs and symptoms can be observed in infants. These signs and symptoms include:
How Are Congenital Heart Defects Diagnosed?
The severe congenital heart defects usually show up during pregnancy or soon after birth. Less severe defects take time to show up and they may not be diagnosed until later childhood.
More often than not, minor defects show almost no signs and symptoms. They are usually diagnosed on the basis of other physical exam and tests done for another reason.
Doctors specialized in care and diagnosis of infants with heart problems is called pediatric cardiologists.Cardiac surgeons on the other hand specialize in treating heart defects. These surgeon perform surgeries to repair heart defects.
During a physical exam, the doctor will:
Feeding and Nutrition
The growth and development of some infants and teenagers with congenital heart defects gets slowed down. A kid may get easily tired if he or she has to pump harder than normal because of a heart defect. These kids can’t even eat properly as they may feel tired while chewing their food. This in turn leads to thinner body frame and weakness. In some cases kids are slower in initiating physical movements such as rolling over, sitting, and walking. Proper treatment and surgery promotes growth and development of the child.
Physical activity is good for overall health and growth of children as it strengthens muscles and keeps them healthy. It is important to take doctor’s advice on how much and what kind of activity will be good for the kid. In some cases when kids have congenital heart defects they may have to check their physical activity and limit it.