Congenital Heart Disease in Infants
Although hundreds of infants are born each year with symptoms that are associated with congenital heart diseases, or defects, many parents are unsure as just to what this means. There are multiple defects of the heart which are considered under the basis of congenital heart disease and defects which can affect the heart, the blood vessels surrounding the heart and other malformations within the cardiac cavity. Blood vessels can sometimes become underdeveloped through the course of development which can lead to serious birth defects of the heart.
The chief treatment for those infants which are suffering from congenital heart disease after birth is surgery. Surgery can allow the doctors and surgeons to solve the problem through open heart surgery. Throughout the years, open heart surgery has overcome many hurdles and has become safer than ever.
If the infant does not undergo surgical intervention than the blood vessels can cause problems with the blood flow to the heart which can contribute to other cardiac problems later in life – therefore, surgeons prefer to surgically repair the problem when the child is born, as it can help to avoid complications.
There are ten common defects which are often seen when an infant is born with a congenital heart defect. These common defects are; cyanotic defects, septal defects, obstruction defects and hypoplastic defects.
There are many aspects which are thought to be the cause of congenital heart defects when infants are born. These aspects are; genetic and environmental factors, if the mother has been diagnosed with measles throughout the pregnancy or if the mother has diabetes or has taken illegal drugs throughout the pregnancy. These heart defects can be surgically repaired through surgery, but it is important to remember that all surgeries come with a risk of complications.
There are many symptoms to infants that have been diagnosed with congenital heart defects: if the infant grows tired quickly from activities that should not tire a normal infant, if the child has difficulty breathing or has raspy or weak and shallow breaths, if the child faints through various exercises or experiences shortness of breath through regular activities.
In some cases, there are no symptoms at all which occur when an infant has congenital heart defects. This is the reason that multiples tests are completed once the child is born and there are even minimal or possible signs of a congenital heart defect.
