Intrauterine development of the fetus sometimes goes wrong, which leads to pathological changes in the structure of some organs. About 1% of babies are born with congenital heart disease. This is a group of very dangerous diseases that require timely intensive treatment.
Why are children born with heart disease?
The main factor provoking the problem under consideration is heredity (point gene or chromosomal changes). In most cases, the unfavorable external conditions become the triggering mechanism of mutations. Congenital heart disease in children - reasons:
- exposure to ionizing radiation;
- the use by the future mother of alcohol or toxic chemical compounds;
- smoking;
- living in an area with poor ecology;
- use of certain medicines during pregnancy;
- age of father and mother over 45;
- severe degree of toxicosis in the period of gestation;
- professional activity, negatively affecting the health of parents.
More likely congenital heart defects in children, whose mothers have the following diseases:
- diabetes;
- rubella ;
- adenoviruses;
- chickenpox;
- serum hepatitis;
- herpes simplex;
- listeriosis;
- syphilis;
- tuberculosis;
- cytomegal;
- toxo- and mycoplasmosis;
- endocrine disorders;
- systemic lupus erythematosus;
- phenylketonuria.
Heart defects in children - classification
Cardiologists divide the described pathologies into 3 groups. The first includes any heart disease in children, characterized by the presence of an obstacle to the removal of blood from the ventricles. The most common options are pulmonary artery narrowing, congenital stenosis and coarctation of the aorta. The remaining 2 groups include a large number of diseases, they need to be considered in more detail.
Pale heart disease
This type of disease is also called white. With such congenital pathologies, the venous blood does not mix with the arterial blood, it is discharged from the left side of the heart to the right. These include:
- defects of interatrial and interventricular septa;
- open arterial duct;
- congenital AV communication;
- dispositions;
- isolated pulmonary stenosis;
- septal defects;
- dystopia .
Children born with heart defects of the type described, lag behind in physical development, especially in the lower part of the trunk. Closer to adolescence (10-12 years), they begin to feel severe pain syndromes in the extremities and abdomen, suffer from dizziness and dyspnea. The disease is rapidly progressing and requires effective systemic treatment.
Blue heart disease
The name of this group of congenital pathologies is associated with a characteristic skin tone in the development of the disease. If a child was born with a heart disease of the form in question, he has cyanotic lips and face, a slightly violet shade of the nail plates. This type of disease includes the following disorders:
- Eisenmenger complex;
- triad, tetralogy of Fallot;
- complete transposition of the main vessels;
- the Ebstein anomaly;
- common arterial trunk;
- atresia of the tricuspid valve.
Heart disease in a child - symptoms
Clinical manifestations of the presented group of pathologies depend on their type, the timing of progression with the development of circulatory decompensation and the nature of hemodynamic disorders. Congenital heart defects in young children have the following symptoms:
- cyanosis or pallor of the skin and mucous membranes;
- anxiety;
- giving up breast;
- rapid fatigue after the onset of sucking;
- deterioration of sleep quality;
- frequent crying;
- cold extremities .
Symptoms of heart disease in children increase with age. The older the baby becomes, the more pronounced are the manifestations of the disease:
- lag in physical development;
- pain in the chest, head;
- swelling;
- heart rate jumps;
- dyspnea;
- sweating;
- tachycardia;
- arrhythmias;
- swelling of cervical vessels;
- deformation of the chest;
- instability of blood pressure;
- dizziness;
- apathy and lethargy;
- muscle weakness.
Diagnosis of congenital heart disease in children
The modern instrumental research helps to identify the problem under consideration. Depending on the expected type of disease, the diagnosis of heart disease in children includes:
- electrocardiogram;
- review radiography;
- echocardiography (sometimes with dopplerography);
- magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography;
- phonocardiography;
- angiography;
- sounding.
How to treat heart disease in children?
All methods of therapy described group of diseases are divided into radical and conservative. Surgical treatment of congenital heart defects in children is often the only way to save the baby's life, therefore the surgery is performed even during the intrauterine development and immediately after birth. In complex and mixed variants of pathology, a healthy organ transplant is required.
Medical treatment of heart disease in children is a symptomatic or ancillary therapy on the eve of surgical intervention. Conservative approach is used mainly with pale forms of the disease, sometimes special means must be taken constantly. Only a qualified cardiologist can make up a correct treatment plan and pick up effective medications.
Life of children with heart disease
The prognosis in this situation depends on the timeliness of the detection of the disease and on the initiation of therapy. According to the statistics of mortality among infants of the first year of life, congenital heart defects in children occupy the top position, from this pathology about 75% of babies die. If the disease was diagnosed at an early stage of progression, and the cardiologist prescribed an effective treatment, the predictions are favorable.
Care for children with heart defects is organized in a medical institution. The child is placed in the intensive care system with the possibility of light and sound insulation. To maintain a normal state:
- feeding through a probe;
- oxygen supply (if necessary);
- change of body position every 2 hours;
- constant monitoring of body temperature, pressure, heart rate and respiratory movements.
At home, parents should monitor the baby's calm to prevent bouts of dyspnoea and cyanosis. Feeding these children should often and gradually, applying to the breast or offering a bottle at the first sign of hunger. It is important to use special soft nipples designed for premature babies. It is necessary more often to help the crumb regurgitate, especially in case of artificial feeding.
Prevention of congenital heart disease in children
The main way to prevent the development of the presented disease in the fetus is the elimination of all the above risk factors. The future mother must:
- Maintain a maximally healthy lifestyle.
- Vaccinate from viral pathologies.
- Carefully plan your pregnancy .
- Attend all prenatal diagnostic sessions.
- Refuse (if possible) from taking medications.
If one of the members of the family has a similar pathology from the woman or man, the risk of conception of the child with the considered disease is very high. Often such babies are born prematurely, and congenital heart disease in premature infants is extremely rare in treatment. Sometimes doctors are advised to weigh in advance and think carefully about the desirability of procreation.