Congenital Heart Defects And Infants

With medical and technological advancements, infant and child mortality rates have decreased over the years, but congenital heart disease is still a leading contributor to these mortality rates. Children with congenital heart disease undergo more severe and rapid medical treatment putting their parents through even harder times. These issues are worth exploring because congenital heart disease is an ongoing illness that has more and more relevant research being done on it. In the United States of America, an increasing number of children are being born and diagnosed with congenital heart disease (CHD) due to medical advancements. This illness not only impacts the infant’s life long term, but it also affects the parent’s well-being (Tak, & McCubbin, 2002). It has

The heart is one of the most important organs in the body. The heart is responsible for pumping blood throughout the human body supplying the tissue with oxygen and nutrients and removing carbon dioxide and waste. If the heart does not supply blood and oxygen to the organs and tissues, they will die.

Congenital heart disease is a cardiovascular condition resulting from an abnormality in the structure of the heart. The exact time this defect forms is unknown but it is during the fetal development in the womb. Researchers think the defect could be case partially by genetics and medical conditions of the fetus and the parents. If the baby’s mother had rubella, while pregnant or other conditions such as diabetes could have caused the defect. Some medications that were taken by a pregnant mother could also have caused birth defects. An error on chromosome 22 could also have caused the heart defect. Some symptoms that a person may have a congenital heart may not show up until later in life but many children also have the symptoms. Symptoms of a congenital heart defect are abnormal heartbeat, bluish tint to skin, shortness of breath, dizziness or fainting, and swelling of body tissues and organs.

For both Atrial and Ventricular septal defect the size of the opening or hole affects how severe the child’s

One of the rarest of congenital cardiac defects is Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, HLHS. This syndrome is described as a collection of anomalies affecting the left heart and connecting structures. Due to advancements in surgical intervention mortality rates in neonates with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome have decreased. Management of these patients requires a symphony of multidisciplinary teams including fetal and pediatric cardiologist, cardiac surgeons, neonatologist, pulmonologist, nutritionist and family counselors. Options currently comprise of heart transplant, three-staged palliative surgery and comfort care. There may be co-morbidities present which further complicate treatment, but with surgical intervention the

Critical Congenital Heart Defect (CCHD) is a subgroup of congenital heart defects that normally necessitates surgical intervention or catheterization procedure during the neonatal period (Good, Canale, Goodman, & Yeager, 2015). According to Mahle et al. (2009), although there are measures taken to detect CCHD like prenatal ultrasound and comprehensive newborn physical examination during newborn’s birth hospitalization, there is still a significant percentage of newborns with CCHD that is left undetected and discharged home without being diagnosed. Delay in diagnosis of CCHD increases morbidity and mortality (Mahle et al., 2009). In response to this, Riede et al. (2010) mentioned that the diagnostic gap in CCHD could be bridged by screening newborns using pulse oximetry

The heart is a very strong muscle that has one major job. The heart’s job is to pump blood throughout the entire body. The heart is made up of 4 chambers, and 4 valves. There is the right and left atrium, and a right and left ventricle. The atriums are the superior chambers, and the ventricles are inferior chambers. The left ventricle is the most important, because that is where the blood travels through to go to the aorta, and eventually the rest of the body (Taylor 2015).

Birth defects, also known as congenital anomalies, is the second leading cause of death for infant accounted for 20.9 percent of all infant deaths in U.S in 2011 (U.S. Dept, 2016).

The incidence of PDA is approximately 0.02 to 0.04 percent in term infants and 20 to 60 percent in preterm neonates. Patent ductus arteriosus accounts for six to eleven percent of all congenital heart defects. PDA is found twice as often in females than in males (Shinde, Basantwani, & Tendolkar, 2016). The incidence of PDA is increased in children who are born prematurely, children with a history of perinatal asphyxia, and, possibly, children born at high altitude. Up to 30 percent low birth infants develop PDA (Kim, 2016).

The heart cannot help but break for the suffering of children who are marked by the cruelty of congenital diseases. One such disease is tetralogy of tallot which as a congenital ailment occurs at birth and involves four different kinds of cardial defects (Mayo Clinic, 2015). The incidents of tetralogy of fallot is actually quite rare with only five out of every 10,000 developing it at birth (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 2011). It is still important to be familiar with. One reason for the need of understanding the disease is that of all congenital heart disorders it is the one most frequently seen, and the mortality rate is another consideration as 50% will not survive past the age of six should tetralogy of fallot be left untreated (Bhimji & Mancini, 2015). Finally, while vast improvements have been made in intervention of the disease improving survivability the condition will have an effect upon a patients throughout their lifetimes. It is because of these that it is important for early recognition, diagnosis, treatment and care of the disease be enacted to ensure not only a positive health outcome but also a good quality of life.

For the female population with congenital ventricular defects pregnancy is an issue. Cardall, at the age of eight had pneumonia, then at the age of 13 he had staphylococcal septicemia and endocarditis. Cardall had complications with most of his procedures and

Your child has been diagnosed with a congenital heart defect known as L-Transposition of the Great Arteries, or Congenitally Corrected Transposition of the Great Arteries. This guide has been created to answer some of the more common questions that parents of children with this congenital heart defect may have.

Congenital heart diseases (CHDs) are the most prevalent of all birth defects and the leading cause of death in the first year of life, (1) with an annual prevalence ranging from six to twelve affected infants per 1,000 live births. (2)

Treatment for tetralogy of Fallot can only happen with open heart surgery either done soon after birth or later in infancy. The goal of surgery is to repair the four defects of tetralogy of Fallot while ensuring that the heart can work as ordinarily as possible. Repairing the defects can greatly improve a child's quality of life and health. The pediatric cardiologist and cardiac surgeon will choose the best time to do the surgery. They will base their choice on a baby's health and weight and the harshness of the defects and

The heart is described as the most valuable organ in the body. The function of the heart is to pump blood throughout the body. The heart works to pump and circulate all of the materials our body needs to operate properly. The right side of the heart receives de-oxygenated blood from the body. The blood rides through the Tricuspid Valve into the Right Ventricle. After that, it pumps through the Pulmonary Valve into the Pulmonary Artery. This is where the de-oxygenated blood is taken to the lungs to get oxygen.