What is congenital heart disease?
Congenital heart disease affects children, infants, and even fetuses, which are still developing inside the uterus. Today, as statistics state, 8 out of every 1,000 children are affected by this disease. In this article, we are going to learn about the types of congenital heart disease, and also about the congenital heart disease symptoms. And also about congenital heart disease in adults
A disease with few known causes, congenital heart disease is dangerous. Doctors have failed to pinpoint the exact causal factors for most people suffering from this disease.
Congenital heart disease has many forms. Grouped into different types, it is usually diagnosed and treated accordingly.
The disease normally includes one of the following:
abnormal holes in the heart chambers, improper connections between chambers which leads to deoxygenated blood flow to the body instead of the lungs and oxygenated blood to flow to the lungs instead of the body, and much more.
According to research, there are some risk factors that are viewed as possible causes.
They include genetic or chromosomal abnormalities or defects, and environmental factors, which include the mother's taking alcohol, cocaine, or over-the-counter medicines during pregnancy.
Although this disease might be present in infants from the very beginning, it might show aggravated symptoms and be diagnosed during childhood, or sometimes even late in adulthood.
Symptoms are quite similar to the usual heart disease symptoms, such as shortness of breath, complete passing out, fast breathing and difficulty in feeding, poor weight gain, chest pain, and cyanosis.
Diagnosis can be possible through intravascular catheterization, chest-x-ray, electrocardiogram, position emission tomography, and others. Other tests include pulse oximetry, which reveals the amount of oxygen in the baby's blood, and an echocardiogram, which gives an ultrasound of the baby's heart.
Treatment of congenital heart disease depends solely on the intensity, degree, and type of the disease, besides other factors such as age. In an aggravated state it usually requires surgery;
however, only a trained and professional pediatric cardiologist should examine and decide about the surgery options in infants and children. In a mild state, medications can work.
Congenital heart disease is dangerous. Starting from a very mild state, it can take the form of heart failure, leading to an early death.
Proper diagnosis, medications, and treatment are required and must be resorted to by anyone who suspects he has congenital heart disease.
Congenital heart disease or acquired heart disease are common diseases suffered by cardiac patients.
Congenital heart disease is due to defective development of the heart while the acquired heart disease affects the heart cover known as the pericardium and the heart muscle known as endocardium.
In effect, this produces pericarditis which is an inflammation of the heart cover, myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle), and endocarditis (inflammation of the heart membrane) respectively.
Congenital heart disease is of two classifications - the functional and the organic.
Inorganic disorder, a definite lesion exists in the heart or other parts of the cardio-vascular-renal system.
No lesion is present in a functional heart disorder, but there is a disturbance in function.
The manifestations of these congenital heart attack disorders are irregular or accentuated heartbeat, weakness after physical effort, shortness of breath, dizziness, fatigue, and considerable concern and anxiety.
Some medical experts believe that the disturbance is chiefly psychogenic in origin, arising from an imagined heart condition of which treatment along the psychiatric line is indicated in this situation.
The aforementioned activities originated from the symptoms of failing circulation which arise from the failure of the heart to pump blood into the organs or to pump it with sufficient force to return it to the various systems back to the heart.
Some of the symptoms of a congenital heart attack which is brought on by such failure include:
- Pulse changes include irregular heart rhythm, rapidity, and weakness.
- Pallor or cyanosis may present
- The coldness of the extremities occurs as a result of a diminished blood supply to the limb
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