Congenital heart disease is frequently encountered in children. As many as 5-8 out of 1,000 Thai children have it. There are many types of congenital heart disease, each of which has its own unique pathology and set of displayed symptoms, thus making their treatment vary for each patient who has it. In patients with severe pathology, late diagnosis can lead to life-threatening complications.
Most congenital heart diseases today do not have a known cause. However, they are suspected to be linked to multiple factors, including genetic disorders, infection during pregnancy, exposure to certain drugs, narcotic use and radiation exposure late in the pregnancy and family history of congenital heart disease.
There are 2 main types of congenital heart diseases as follows:
- Cyanotic : Symptoms are caused by deoxygenated blood entering the arteries and being supplied to different organs of the body, thus leading children to have a characteristically greenish appearance in their skin or muscles. The clearest signs of cyanosis are observable in the ends of the hands and feet, the lips and the face.
- Acyanotic : Symptoms are caused by the body not receiving enough oxygen through the blood supply and the heart pumping less blood to different parts of the body, thus preventing patients from being able to engage in heavy physical activity like normal people. In infancy, symptoms include excessive fatigue while suckling. Older children also easily become tired when performing any activity or physical exertion. Heavy physical activity can cause the body and brain to suffer from a shortage of oxygen supply, which can easily lead to loss of consciousness.
Symptoms
These conditions can range from producing no symptoms at all to very severe symptoms. These are the signs that parents who suspect congenital heart disease should look for:
- Excessive fatigue when compared to ordinary children.
- During infancy, the infant requires a lot of time to suckle, takes frequent breaks when suckling, breathes rapidly and has flared nostrils or ribs when breathing.
- The tongue, conjunctivae, lips or ends of the hands and feet have a dark color.
- Respiratory infections such as frequent bouts of cold or pneumonia.
- Lack of or poor growth.
- Abnormal external characteristics, including Down Syndrome symptoms.
- Disfigured, collapsed or abnormally bulging chest and digital clubbing.
- Abnormally fast and strong heartbeat.
When you notice any of the above symptoms and suspect congenital heart disease, you should consult a pediatrician specializing in heart disorders. The pediatric cardiologist will consider additional lab tests such as electrocardiogram, heart x-rays, heart ultrasound and angiography in order to render a clear diagnosis.
Care and Treatment
Because there are many different types of congenital heart disease, treatment depends on the type of disease and age of the patient. In some cases, supportive care with the use of drugs is provided, while in other cases surgery is the option. In any case, drugs can help improve heart function, but they cannot correct the abnormalities, while surgery and interventional cardiac catheterization usually produce good outcomes. Therefore, parents should ask for additional care information from the pediatric cardiologist caring for your child, and caregivers should seek knowledge about proper care while the child is waiting to undergo surgery. Just like ordinary children, this includes diet and nutrition. In patients with heart failure or labored breathing, they should stop consuming salty food and should build up their immune system through appropriate exercise in addition to preventing complications like dental and oral infections, etc.
