Some Unknown Facts About Congenital Heart Disease in Babies

The Dhaka Times Desk Congenital heart disease is a major problem in children. Due to lack of awareness in our country, the rate is not very low.

According to a report, at least 8 out of every 1,000 babies are born with congenital heart disease. Congenital heart disease refers to abnormalities in the structure, function, etc. of the heart and associated blood vessels. Congenital heart disease is thought to be caused by genetic or environmental factors. Some heart diseases appear soon after birth, while some congenital heart diseases remain undetected or undiagnosed throughout life.

Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD)

A maximum of 36 percent of congenital heart disease patients are affected by this problem. Ventricular septal defect refers to the presence of one or more holes in the membrane separating the left and right ventricles of the heart. With a ventricular septal defect, the oxygenated pure blood in the baby's body unexpectedly mixes with the polluted blood rich in carbon dioxide, which causes various problems. Ventricular septal defects do not cause any symptoms when they are very young and tend to improve spontaneously with age. But if the size of the hole is big, the baby may have heart failure. The main symptoms of this disease are rapid breathing, shortness of breath, unusual fluctuations in the chest, not gaining weight in proportion to age, frequent coughing or cold, short panting, skin color changing and turning blue.

It is possible to treat the disease without major incisions through cardiac catheterization, but in many cases major surgery is required to treat the disease.

Atrial Septal Defect (ASD)

A hole in the upper part of the heart between the two chambers is called an atrial septal defect. ASDs, like VSDs, tend to resolve spontaneously if the perforation is small. If the problem does not improve with age, the disease is treated by cardiac catheterization or surgery.

Atrio ventricular septal defect (AVSD)

This problem is a bit complicated in nature. 4 percent of the total congenital heart disease patients are affected by this problem. Here there is a hole between the two chambers of the heart and at the same time the bulbs that control blood flow do not work properly. An atrioventricular septal defect causes the heart to work harder to pump more blood to the lungs, causing the heart to enlarge and the blood pressure in the lungs to rise. This disease is treated by complex surgery.

Pulmonary stenosis

The pulmonary bulb is located between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery in our body and consists of three leaflets that control the unidirectional flow of blood to the lungs. In the case of pulmonary stenosis, the leaflets associated with the pulmonary bulb or the pulmonary arteries cannot ensure proper blood flow, resulting in impaired blood flow from the right ventricle to the lungs. In many cases, the disease does not show any symptoms until the child is older. Depending on the patient's condition, this disease is treated with minimally invasive cardiac catheterization or major surgery.

Coarctation of aorta

When a part of the aorta becomes thinner than normal, it is called coarctation of the aorta. The main symptoms of this disease are heavy sweating, cold feet all the time, not gaining weight, both legs are thin in proportion to the body, no pulse or weak pulse in the legs, difficulty in breathing. Coarctation of aorta can be treated without major surgery by balloon dilation. However, in many cases major surgery is required.

Bicuspid aortic valve disease

Aortic valve is located between our heart and aorta (main blood vessel) which directs oxygenated blood supply to the body. Normally the bulb has three leaflets which close and open to regulate blood flow. A child with two leaflets instead of three is called bicuspid aortic valve disease. The disease is treated by surgical replacement of the bulb or bulboplasty by catherization. Shortness of breath, easy panting, profuse sweating etc. are the main symptoms of this disease.

# Md. Abu Zafar Sadek, Pharmacist, Senior Deputy Manager, Renata Limited.