Congenital heart disease Health Article

Definition

Congenital heart disease, also called congenital heart defect, includes a variety of malformations of the heart or its major blood vessels that are present at the birth of a child.

Description

Congenital heart disease occurs when the heart or blood vessels near the heart do not develop properly before birth. Some infants are born with mild types of congenital heart disease, but most need surgery in order to survive. Patients who have had surgery are likely to experience other cardiac problems later in life.

Most types of congenital heart disease obstruct the flow of blood in the heart or the nearby vessels, or cause an abnormal flow of blood through the heart. Rarer types of congenital heart disease occur when the newborn has only one ventricle, when the pulmonary artery and the aorta come out of the same ventricle, or when one side of the heart is not completely formed.

Patent ductus arteriosus

Patent ductus arteriosus refers to the opening of a passageway—or temporary blood vessel (ductus)—to carry the blood from the heart to the aorta before birth, allowing blood to bypass the lungs, which are not yet functional. The ductus should close spontaneously in the first few hours or days after birth. When it does not close in the newborn, some of the blood that should flow through the aorta then returns to the lungs. Patent ductus arteriosus is common in premature babies, but rare in full-term babies. It has also been associated with mothers who had German measles (rubella) while pregnant.

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a condition in which the left side of the heart is underdeveloped, is rare, but it is the most serious type of congenital heart disease. With this syndrome, blood reaches the aorta, which pumps blood to the entire body, only from the ductus, which then normally closes within a few days of birth. In hypoplastic left heart syndrome, the baby seems normal at birth, but as the ductus closes, blood cannot reach the aorta and circulation fails.