Ventricular Septal defect
By: Haley and Esmeralda
What is it?
A hole in the heart, common heart defect that's present at birth. The hole occurs in the wall that separates the heart lower chambers and allow blood to pass from the left to the right side of the heart.
Symptoms
Baby:
- Poor eating,failure to thrive
- Easy tiring
- Fast breathing or breath less
- May vary depending on size of hole & Other associated heart defect
- Heart murmur
- Shortness of breath
Diagnosis
- Chest X-ray: view of heart & lung
- Electrocardiogram(ECG): Test records the electrical activity
- Echocardiogram: sound waves producing image of the heart
- Cardiac catheterization: Determines function of heart valves and chambers
- Pulse oximetry: Measures amount of oxygen in blood
Treatment
If opening is small, it won't make the heart and lungs work harder. Surgery and other treatments may not be needed. Small VSDs often close on their own.
If opening is large, open-heart surgery may be needed to close it and prevent serious problems. Medicines may be used temporarily to help with symptoms.
If an infant is very ill, or has more than one VSD or a VSD in an unusual location, a temporary operation to relieve symptoms. When the child is order, an operation is done to remove the band and fix the VSD with open-heart surgery.
Prognosis
After a successful surgical repair of the VSD, the two ventricles are entirely separate from each other and the circulation of the blood within the heart is normal. If the child's growth had slowed down, the child usually catches up within a year or two.
ventricular septal defect