Learning that a woman is expecting a child, parentsbegin to build various plans for his future. Any mom hopes that her baby will be the most beautiful, happy and, most importantly, healthy. However, unfortunately, sometimes life makes its own adjustments and is not always the most iridescent. One of these complications is a child's heart disease. A heart disease treatment requires the most necessary. Fortunately, congenital heart defects in children are not so common. However, congenital heart defects still occur, and for the first time they can not show themselves externally - the child shows no signs of anxiety. That is why parents and doctors - pediatricians sometimes fail to detect the problem in a timely manner. But the sooner the problem is revealed and the adequate phenomenon is started, the higher the chances for a full recovery. The purpose of this article is to introduce parents to the signs and symptoms of heart defects in children. Knowing what exactly is cause for concern, parents will be able to suspect in a timely manner something amiss and seek medical help from a doctor. Often parents are the first to pay attention to the health problems of the baby, as they have the opportunity to watch him around the clock. Doctors do not have such an opportunity, because they see the crumb just a few minutes once a month, at a preventive reception. What is heart disease? This group of diseases can be characterized as follows. Heart disease is a pathological change in the structure of the heart, heart valve and blood vessels. Most often, children have congenital heart defects - with congenital defects all these pathological changes in the structure of the heart occur during the period of fetal formation. The incidence of congenital heart disease is approximately 5 cases per thousand pregnancies. It is congenital heart disease, alas, is the most common cause of infant mortality during the first year of life. Many parents, after learning that their baby suffers from congenital heart disease, are surprised and indignant at the fact that heart disease was not detected during the ultrasound examination of a woman during pregnancy. Unfortunately, such cases do take place. This is connected with the fact that even if the doctors have conscientiously and carefully observed the woman during her pregnancy, they can not reveal the heart disease. There is this for a variety of reasons - insufficiently high level of skills of the doctor conducting ultrasound, old equipment in the district clinics, and, most importantly, the peculiarities of the fetal blood circulation system, which does not allow to identify certain types of congenital heart defects. Young parents must be aware of this information. Even in the event that pregnancy and childbirth proceeded absolutely smoothly, and your baby looks absolutely healthy, be sure to insist on carrying out an ultrasound examination of the heart of the crumb. However, alas, the program of mandatory examination of newborns and infants does not include any other diagnostic methods, except for carrying out an electrocardiogram. But it is not done in every polyclinic. Therefore, parents have two options - to rely on "maybe" and make paid heart ultrasound to their crumbs, to reliably make sure that with his heart everything is in order. Congenital heart disease in newborns with ultrasound is diagnosed reliably and without difficulty.
What should parents and doctors pay attention to?
Doctors - cardiologists distinguish several basicsymptoms that should make the district doctor - the pediatrician, who is watching the crumb and his parents - be on the alert. Carefully read and remember them. The heart defect of the symptoms is as follows:
- Noises in the heart of the baby
If the doctor, listening to the baby, discovers in hisheart noises, he must direct crumbs to an ultrasound examination of the heart. Parents should not panic, since noises in the heart do not always indicate the presence of a heart defect in a crumb. All the noises in the heart are divided into two types - functional and organic. The presence of functional noises in the heart does not indicate any violation in the structure of the child's heart and is one of the varieties of the norm. Most often, the occurrence of such noises is caused by the growth of the baby's heart and cardiac vessels. And, in addition, often the cause of functional noise in the heart is the presence in the heart of an additional chord (or, as it is also called, trabeculae). The additional chord is an additional cord that extends from one wall of the ventricle to the other. Congenital heart diseases in children have a completely different symptomatology. Around it creates an additional flow of blood, which causes noise in the heart of the crumbs. Fortunately, the extra chord does not bring any discomfort to the baby and, accordingly, is not a threat to his health. Moreover, the presence of an additional chord is not a pathology, and even more so, a malformation of the heart - it is not a disease at all.
- A small gain in weight in an infant
If a crumb very badly gaining weight, thisshould alert both parents and the attending physician-pediatrician. As a rule, in the event that the baby gets less than 400 grams for a month, this should serve as an excuse for an immediate consultation of a pediatric cardiologist. Very many varieties of children's congenital heart defects manifest themselves in the slowed-down physical development of the baby. In no case can not ignore such a problem. After all, in any case, even if a bad weight gain is not a consequence of heart disease, it indicates the presence of serious health problems in the baby.
- The presence of shortness of breath and increased fatigue
Another alarm signal for parents andthe pediatrician's doctor should be the presence of shortness of breath. Dyspnea doctors call the change in the normal breathing rate and the depth of the inspiration itself. Fatigue fatigue can also indicate that the child has certain problems with the work of the cardiovascular system. Of course, it's not always possible to notice dyspnea to parents - it requires a certain experience, which parents do not have enough. But the presence of crumbs increased fatigue under the power to notice any mom. This is especially pronounced during sucking on the baby's breast. The kid very quickly gets tired, constantly takes breaks, he often has a perspiration, especially over the sponge. If you notice this in your baby, be sure to ask your doctor, a pediatrician, for help.
- Tachycardia
If the baby has too fast heartbeat, thiscan also indicate the presence of a congenital heart disease in a child. However, in this case, it is also difficult for parents to independently determine the presence or absence of tachycardia in a baby, which again confirms the need for regular preventive examinations.
- The presence of cyanosis in crumbs
Cyanosis doctors call a cyanotic shade of skinthe covers of the baby. As a rule, cyanosis of the skin in a baby appears in the presence of complex heart defects. This shade appears in the case when the red arterial blood is mixed with venous, which has a dark color. Sometimes cyanosis is expressed very slightly and it may not be noticed even by an experienced doctor, and sometimes it is noticeable even to parents. Most often, with cyanosis, the baby becomes blue with a nasolabial triangle, skin under the fingernails and heels.
Timely diagnostics
The sooner a violation of normalthe higher the chances for a successful cure. That is why it is so important to detect the presence of congenital heart defects in crumbs even during pregnancy. To do this, ultrasonography of the fetus and CTG are used. Incidentally, in our time, sensitive equipment can diagnose the developmental defect of the fetal heart already in the first uzi, at 12-13 weeks of pregnancy. But not all types of heart defects can be recognized at this time, so it is very important to do both the second and third uzi - at 25 and 35 weeks, respectively. The cause of heart failure in newborns is very different. There is a certain risk group, which includes those women who:
- Earlier there were unsuccessfully ended pregnancies - spontaneous interruptions, premature birth, the birth of a dead child.
- Those who already have children with congenital malformations of the cardiovascular system, especially those with heart defects and arrhythmias.
- In the history of pregnancy there arevarious infectious diseases, especially in the early stages of pregnancy. This fact is explained by the fact that it is during the early stages of pregnancy that the vital organs, including the cardiovascular system, are laid and formed.
- In addition, the high-risk group includesand those women in the family whose near relatives are diagnosed with various heart defects. Unfortunately, the genetic predisposition to congenital heart diseases also has a place to be.
- The presence of any chronic diseases in a pregnant woman, especially if a woman is forced to take any pharmacological preparations during pregnancy.
- If a woman expecting the birth of a child, especially the first-born, is more than 35 years old.
- Women who live in areas with poor environmental conditions.
For the sake of justice, it should be noted thatconducting a diagnosis of malformations of the fetus in a pregnant woman can not always be carried out in the district women's consultation, especially when it comes to a small provincial town. As a rule, in such cities there is neither the necessary equipment nor qualified medical personnel to conduct such a study. However, remember that your attending physician obstetrician - gynecologist should give you, if there are appropriate indications, referral to the medical institution where such specialists are. Often for this, a woman needs to go to another city. But, as you know, your kid's health is worth it. Be sure to visit a doctor - it can save not only your health, but also the life of your baby. Once again, all the above signs and symptoms of a violation of the normal development of the cardiovascular system may not be expressed in any way, or very insignificantly. And intensify only as the child grows up, when the precious time for the treatment of the baby will be hopelessly missed. Be sure to find the opportunity and examine your crumb as soon as possible.
Types of heart defects
There are various types of pathologicaldevelopment of the cardiovascular system. There are more than one hundred different types of heart defects. In this article, we will describe in more detail only the main, most common in children. However, this information is given only to inform parents - diagnosis and treatment should only be done by a specialized cardiologist.
- Aortic heart disease
The essence of this vice lies in the following -The vessel that connects the aorta and the pulmonary artery is open. Aorta physicians call a wide vessel, which departs from the heart and through which arterial blood flows. The pulmonary artery is a wide vessel that departs from the right ventricle and along which the venous blood flows towards the heart. With proper physiological development, this open duct is needed only during fetal growth, and within two weeks after birth it should be closed. In the same case, if for some reason the duct does not close, doctors say that the baby has a heart defect. Whether the external manifestations of heart disease, such as tachycardia, dyspnea or cyanosis, depends only on how pronounced the defect is. Often, such heart defects are completely asymptomatic, and are diagnosed only by chance, with a planned examination of the baby. Most often, heart disease with an open arterial duct is most often detected when the child is auditioned by a pediatrician. Such a heart defect causes strong noises, which the doctor will hear. Very often, such heart defects disappear on their own, without any surgical intervention by cardiosurgeons.
- Defect of the interstitial septum
This type of heart disease is also foundoften enough. In this case, the child has an open oval window, which is normally closed by the end of the first month of life. However, this does not always happen. In the event that the opening in the oval septum is open slightly, this has no effect on the normal functioning of the heart. If the hole in the septum is more than 6 millimeters, it is a heart disease.
The diagnosis is questionable
In the event that the baby's doctor is a pediatricianhe suspects heart disease in children, the symptoms also confirm this diagnosis, he should as soon as possible direct the child to a child cardiosurgeon. The cardiosurgeon will carry out all the necessary studies and on their basis develop further tactics of treatment. Parents, whose children were diagnosed with heart disease, do not despair. Most of the heart defects are successfully cured, and the child gets the opportunity to lead the same lifestyle as his healthy peers. Panic in this case will do you a bad service, because you need your baby! We advise you to read:
