Congenital Heart Defects Paper

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

Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome is a very serious birth defect. Studies say, “each year approximately… 640 to 1440 infants in the United States are born with HLHS” (Paediatr Child Health,2). Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, also known as HLHS, is a birth defect where the left ventricle of the heart is either underdeveloped or absent. Today, there are heart surgeries that can help children born with HLHS survive longer and sometimes even live long, happy lives. Though, not all children survive HLHS. Many infants die whilst waiting for a donor heart.

In a normal human being the heart correctly functions by the blood first entering through the right atrium from the superior and inferior vena cava. This blood flow continues through the right atrioventricular valve into the right ventricle. The right ventricle contracts forcing the pulmonary valve to open leading blood flow through the pulmonary valve and into the pulmonary trunk. Blood is then distributed from the right and left pulmonary arteries to the lungs, where carbon dioxide is unloaded and oxygen is loaded into the blood. The blood is returned from the lungs to the left

The right atrium is where the process begins. Then, blood travels through the tricuspid valve to the right ventricle, and from there to the pulmonary artery. Once the blood travels through the pulmonary artery, it reaches the lungs. While in the lungs, the blood goes through a gas exchange: deoxygenated blood gets oxygenated (The gas exchange takes place in the alveoli, which are tiny air sacs in the bottom of the lungs

HLHS is when the left side of the heart is severely underdeveloped. In hypoplastic left heart syndrome, the left side of the heart can 't properly supply blood to the body because the lower left chamber (left ventricle) is too small or in some cases it may not even exist. In addition, the valves on the left side of the heart (aortic valve and mitral valve) don 't work properly, and the main artery leaving the heart (aorta) is smaller than normal. The foramen ovale is a natural opening between the upper chambers of the heart (atria) or through a blood vessel that connects the pulmonary artery directly to the aorta (ductus arteriosus) and for the first several days of life, the right side of the heart can pump blood to both the lungs and the rest of the body through this. Often babies with HLHS undergo a three-staged set of complex surgeries in which the outcome is usually leaving the child with half a heart. In doing this, it increases the child’s chances of survival. The foramen ovale usually closes after the first day or two of life then the right side of the heart has no way to pump blood out to the body.

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is one of the most common birth defects found in children, with an incidence of approximately nine in every 1000 live births worldwide (van der Linde et al., 2011). Children with complex CHD are living longer due to dramatic advances in medical procedures and surgical techniques (Berger et al., 2017), as well as the increase in number of pediatric heart transplant recipients over the past two decades (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2017), and the decrease in the death rates from CHD, with this population now living into adulthood (Pillutla, Shetty, & Foster, 2008). Costs related to the care of children with CHD are greater than $5.6 billion dollars a year, with an average hospitalization costing

Congenital heart disease in newborns is a very common birth defect and effects roughly 1 in 100 or 1% of the babies born in the United States. Some of the heart defects that are a part of congenital heart defects include, hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), pulmonary atresia (PA), Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF), Total anomalous pulmonary venous return (TAPV/TAPVR), tricuspid atresia and many more.

HLHS first described in 1952 by Lev as the pathologic complex hypoplasia of the aortic tract. Hypoplasia of the aortic tract including hypoplasia of the aorta, hypoplasia of the aorta and VSD, hypoplasia of the aorta with aortic stenosis or atresia, and hypoplasia of the aorta with or without mitral stenosis. In 1958, Noonan and Nadas termed these lesions as “Hypoplastic left heart syndrome”. Noonan describes HLHS as a spectrum of cardiac abnormalities characterized by marked hypoplasia of the left ventricle and ascending aorta. The embryologic cause is not fully understood. It probably results from a familial inheritance and genetic disorder. Most infants are diagnosed in the first few hours or days of life.

Having a diagnosis of Tetralogy of Fallot should mean having a death sentence. With an occurrence rate of 3 in every 10,000, it is the most common cause of cyanotic cardiac disease. [Wynbrandt, 366] There are four defects that commonly occur together; ventricular septal defect, hypertrophied right ventricle, malposition of the aorta, and pulmonary stenosis. For one to be diagnosed as a Tetralogy of Fallot baby, the patient must present with at least two of the four defects. Any one of these defects can cause serious catastrophe to the cardiac system. Combining these defects together makes it that much more complicated for the cardiologist to correct. Without the advancements made in cardiology, this diagnosis would mean certain death to the postnatal child.

has to work harder pumping blood to the rest of the body. Blood in our

Congenital heart disease’s incidence depends on how the population is studied. With better diagnosis through the introduction of echocardiography the incidence figures of congenital heart diseases has raised from the range of 5-8 per 1000 live births to 8-12 per 1000 live births (Hoffman JIE, 2013).

Congenital heart defects are problems intrinsic to the heart that present at birth. They develop during fetal growth in utero mainly due to genetic malformations, environmental factors, and multifactorial reasons. The environment within which the fetus develops (the uterus) is a very crucial contribution to normal fetal growth and development. It is common to find disruptions within this microenvironment; the consequent effect being the disruption of normal growth and organ developments. The timing is, however, important as well. During the first trimester, organs are being crafted from primitive cells and tissues. Internal and external factors, therefore, take the opportunity to cause disruption. The most common congenital anomalies are

A rare congenital defect, HLHS is characterized by an underdevelopment of structures of the left side of the heart, including the left ventricle, mitral valve, aorta, and aortic arch. The aortic and mitral valves may either be severely stenosed or completely absent. Altered heart structure interferes with normal outflow of oxygenated blood from the left side of the heart, and survival is dependent on a functioning right ventricle and

Isolated case reports, however, provide the only information about the evolution in the uterus of this spectrum of diseases in the second and third trimesters, and they suggest potential progression in the degree of left heart hypoplasia. Therefore, in the present study, the researchers retrospectively reviewed the prenatal and postnatal echocardiograms of 21 fetuses with left heart obstructive lesions. Table 1 shows the research that was found on the 21 fetuses (Hornberger et al; 1995). The researcher also attempted to identify prenatal features that could indicate the severity of postnatal left heart obstruction and hypoplasia. Fetuses were divided into groups according to whether postnatally the left heart was capable or incapable of supporting the systemic circulation in the presence of a patent aortic valve. Group 3 included fetuses with aortic atresia. At the initial examination, left heart dimensions were normal or reduced, with the most unusually small measurements in group 3. Three fetuses in group 2 and most in group 1 had normal initial left heart dimensions. Subsequent growth of left heart structures either paralleled normal growth or was reduced, the latter resulting in the development or progression of left heart hypoplasia. All left heart dimensions grew more slowly in group 2 and group 3 than in group 1. Other prenatal features observed only in groups 2 and 3 included reversed or bidirectional foramen ovale flow and retrograde distal arch flow. Initial mid-trimester mitral valve and the growth rates of all left heart structures correlated strongly with postnatal left ventricular end-diastolic dimension, there could be additional indicators of postnatal disease severity. In group 1, one fetus developed severe aortic stenosis late in

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)