What is congenital heart disease?
Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a problem with the structure of the heart that is present at birth. Problems that prevent blood from flowing normally include:
- There was a hole in the wall of my heart.
- Blood vessel problems (too much or too little, blood flowing too slowly, in the wrong place or in the wrong direction).
- Problems with the heart valves that control blood flow.
Some cases of CHD are simple and may not cause symptoms. However, it can be life-threatening and may require treatment in early childhood.
Health care providers can detect heart defects early (before birth or just after birth). However, in some cases, a person does not receive a diagnosis of CHD until childhood, adolescence, or adulthood.
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What types of congenital heart disease are there?
There are two major groups of CHDs.
- cyanosis (Low oxygen in blood) Congenital heart disease.
- cyanosis (Blood oxygen concentration (acceptable) Congenital heart disease.
cyanotic congenital heart disease
These heart abnormalities reduce the amount of oxygen that the heart can deliver to other parts of the body. Babies born with cyanotic congenital heart disease usually have low oxygen levels and require surgery. Examples include:
- Left heart obstructive lesions: These reduce blood flow between the heart and the rest of the body (systemic blood flow). Examples include hypoplastic left heart syndrome (when the left side of the heart is too small) and aortic arch rupture (when the aorta is incomplete).
- Right heart obstructive lesion: These reduce blood flow between the heart and lungs (pulmonary blood flow). Examples include tetralogy of Fallot (a group of four abnormalities), Ebstein’s anomaly, pulmonary atresia, and tricuspid atresia (a valve that does not develop properly).
- Mixed lesions: The body mixes systemic and pulmonary blood flow. One example is transposition of the aorta. This means her two major arteries exiting her heart are in the wrong place. The other is his truncus arteriosus, where he only has one main artery to the heart that carries blood to the body instead of two.
Acyanotic congenital heart disease
This involves a problem with blood circulating through the body in an abnormal way. for example:
- A hole in my heart: There may be an abnormal opening in one of the walls of the heart. Depending on the location of the hole, this may be called an atrial septal defect, atrioventricular canal, patent ductus arteriosus, or ventricular septal defect.
- Aortic problems: The aorta is the main artery that carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body. It may be too narrow (aortic stenosis). Alternatively, the aortic valve (which opens and closes to regulate blood flow) may be restricted in opening or may have only two flaps instead of three (called a bicuspid aortic valve).
- Pulmonary artery problems: The pulmonary artery carries blood from the right side of the heart to the lungs for oxygen. If this artery is too narrow, it is called pulmonary artery stenosis.
How common is congenital heart disease?
Congenital heart disease is the most common type of congenital disease. CHD affects 1% of births in the United States.
