During the prenatal period, the future baby receives a complex of necessary nutrients from mother. This also applies to oxygen entering the placental bloodstream through the open oval window The child has. It looks like a small hole between the atria of the heart. After birth, the need for it disappears, but not everyone closes it.
Description of the problem
The patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a small opening between the atria of the heart. Its main purpose is to deliver oxygen by bypassing the pulmonary circulation, which does not function during the prenatal period. For this purpose, the window has a special valve that acts as a door, which opens only towards the left atrium, allowing a flow of oxygen and blood into it.
After birth, the need for a window disappears as the first breath opens the lungs. They “turn on” the pulmonary circulation, increasing pressure in the left heart chambers. As a result, the valve-shaped door is no longer able to open, is pressed tightly against the interatrial septum and gradually becomes overgrown.
Important! Typically, complete closure of the window occurs between 3 months and 2 years of age. But sometimes it happens more late dates. IN last years open window often began to be diagnosed at the age of 5 or 7 years.
It is worth talking about heart problems in cases where the child’s heart is growing, but the growth of the valve in the window area does not keep up with it. This leads to the fact that the window does not close tightly and blood begins to circulate between the atria, which should not happen. There is a certain percentage of people who do not experience any particular discomfort from an unclosed oval window.
Sometimes the load on the heart increases, which causes a surge in blood flow between the atria. This can be caused by vein pathology in the area lower limbs, combined heart diseases and chronic illness lungs. Often, pathological blood flow is provoked by pregnancy and childbirth. Here it is very important to monitor the doctor and carry out complex treatment if necessary.
Normal sizes of the oval window
According to statistics, an open oval window is diagnosed among 25% of all adults and is not a pathology. It does not pose a serious threat and is simply physiological feature body. The window sizes can vary from 3 mm to 19 mm and largely depend on the person’s age and height.
The smallest diameter can be observed in a one-month-old baby.
A hole of 5–7 mm is not particularly dangerous. Such a small size in young patients eliminates the shunting of blood between the atria. And only severe crying, coughing or physical overload can provoke the flow of blood from one atrium to another. In adulthood, this can result from diving, doing gymnastics or weightlifting, or working as a pilot, diver or miner. The need to eliminate the hole directly depends on the size of the cover valve and the degree of compensation. The choice of appropriate therapy is the responsibility of an experienced specialist who takes into account whole line
signs and factors. When the window size exceeds 7–10 mm, the issue of the need for surgical treatment is decided.
Window closing process
When the need for the oval window disappears, a process of gradual overgrowth occurs. However, it can function periodically. Most often this happens in children in the first year of life, whose lungs and blood vessels are not yet sufficiently developed. Therefore, with prolonged crying or straining, the hole opens, allowing a small amount of blood to pass from one atrium to the other.
But as you grow, the cardiovascular system strengthens, and intracardiac pressure changes. As a result of this, the window door fits very tightly and gradually fuses with the walls of the heart. In most cases this occurs by the age of two. But sometimes it depends on the individual characteristics of the body and occurs a little later, which is also a variant of the norm.
Provoking factors In recent years, the number of people with a patent foramen ovale has increased. This usually happens in babies born ahead of schedule or as a result genetic characteristics
body.
- Other reasons may also contribute to non-closure:
- harmful effects on the cardiovascular system in the prenatal period (use of various medications, hypoxia and radiation);
- underdevelopment of the connective tissue of the heart and;
- severe lung disease;
Important! Experts do not consider a patent foramen ovale as a heart defect. It is usually referred to as. Most people live with it their whole lives without experiencing any particular inconvenience. But only with regular monitoring by a cardiologist.
Leading symptoms
The blood circulating between the atria through the foramen ovale is particularly oxygen poor. Its constant supply leads to oxygen starvation organism, which is accompanied by characteristic symptoms.
With small window sizes (from 3 to 4 mm), the listed symptoms appear extremely rarely.
Diagnostic measures
Often, a routine physical examination by a specialist can help you suspect the presence of an open window. It detects cyanosis skin and lag in physical development. As additional signs Heart murmurs will appear during auscultation (listening with a phonendoscope) and studying the anamnesis (frequent acute respiratory viral infections and fainting).
Install accurate diagnosis instrumental diagnostics allows:
- ECG: allows you to detect signs of overload of the right heart;
- radiography chest: reveals an increase in heart size;
- probing of the heart cavities: performed only before surgery;
- Echo CG (ultrasound of the heart): allows you to visually determine the presence of a defect and its size, as well as graphic image movements of its shutter.
Using Doppler echocardiography, turbulent blood flow, its volume and speed can be detected. And transesophageal ultrasound cardiography (EchoCG) allows you to obtain the most accurate information due to significant visualization.
Treatment tactics
An open window is a variant of the norm in the absence of severe symptoms, without requiring special therapy. In this case, it is enough to be regularly monitored by a cardiologist and do the correct amount of physical activity. But at the first signs of a stroke, therapy is mandatory.
Most often, antiplatelet agents and anticoagulants (Aspirin, Warfarin) are used as medications with regular monitoring of the international normalized ratio (INR). Its indicators must be in a certain range (from 2 to 3), which is determined using laboratory tests.
If there is a pronounced pathological blood discharge between the atria, the issue of performing an operation is decided. To stop the flow of blood, it is carried out under the control of an x-ray and an echocardiograph. A special occluder allows you to completely close the hole, which the doctor inserts through a vein in the thigh using a catheter.
Probability of complications and prognosis
The presence of an oval window is always a risk factor for certain disorders or complications. An example is paradoxical embolism. This is a pathological condition in which small blood clots and air bubbles can enter through the window into the atrium and then into the ventricle on the left. They can eventually reach the brain and cause a stroke.
Regular visits to the doctor and necessary research. Under the constant supervision of a doctor, the prognosis for this defect is quite favorable. And performing endovascular occlusion makes it 100 percent favorable.
There are no specially developed measures to prevent an open oval window. But it is quite possible to reduce the risk of its development in the prenatal period. For this to the expectant mother should be carried out healthy image life, eat right and eliminate all bad habits.
In addition, you should avoid any contact with chemicals(paints, varnishes, hazardous medicines) And ionizing radiation. While carrying a baby, a woman should try to take care of her health and not have contact with sick people. Infectious diseases significantly increase the risk of cardiac pathology in the fetus (especially rubella).
When a child has already been diagnosed with a foramen ovale in the heart, the most important thing is not to panic. This is not a sentence. In this case, parents need to follow a number of useful recommendations:
- register your child with a cardiologist;
- learn to dose physical activity;
- organize your daily routine correctly;
- develop together with the doctor proper diet nutrition;
- try to vacation at sea every year.
Important! It is necessary to show your child your confidence and calmness. No need to scare him in medical terms and exhibit excessive health concerns. Instead, you need to take care of his mental and psychological comfort.
Modern diagnostic methods allow specialists to timely detect an open foramen ovale in newborns. And up to of a certain age this is not a pathology, because through certain time it should close on its own. But in some cases this does not happen, which requires professional help from specialists. And only from timely detection problem and its competent solution directly depend on the comfort and quality of life of a growing baby.
Nowadays, many parents often hear from the doctor that their baby has an open foramen ovale in the heart. In this article we will try to find out what it is - a serious diagnosis or a congenital structural feature of the heart.
The heart of a newborn baby is very different from the heart of an adult. The heart consists of four chambers (atria and ventricles), and in adults there is a septum between the atria that does not allow the arterial and venous blood in the left and right halves hearts accordingly. In newborn children, the interatrial septum is not always a complete formation due to the following features blood circulation of the fetus: when the baby is still developing in the womb of a woman, the lungs do not take part in independent breathing, so less blood flows to them (only 12% of the total blood flow of the fetus). This is necessary to more blood, enriched with oxygen, the actively functioning organs of the fetus received - the brain, liver, etc. For the correct distribution of blood volumes in the baby’s body, there are vascular communications (messages) in his cardiovascular system. One of these structures, along with the arterial and venous ducts, is the oval window - this is an opening between the atria that discharges blood from the right to the left atrium to reduce blood flow to the lungs.
On the side of the left ventricle, the window is covered by a small valve, which is fully mature for childbirth. At the moment of the newborn’s first cry, when his lungs open, the blood flow to them increases, the pressure in the left atrium increases, and the valve closes the window, and subsequently firmly fuses with the wall interatrial septum(in most cases during the first year of a child’s life, less often - up to five years). Sometimes this valve is too small in size to close the hole, and then they say that the newborn has a patent foramen ovale in the heart.
An open foramen ovale is an opening between the atria in the human heart, through which blood can flow from one atrium to another (usually from the left to the right, since physiologically the pressure in the cavity of the left atrium is higher). Do not confuse a patent foramen ovale with an atrial septal defect, since the defect is a more serious diagnosis related to congenital defects heart, while a patent foramen ovale is classified as one of the minor anomalies of heart development, and is rather an individual feature of the structure of the child’s heart.
Patent foramen ovale
Causes of patent oval window in the heart
In first place in the structure of causes of morbidity is genetic predisposition, especially on the maternal side. Also, as reasons, we can note factors that have negative impact on the fetus during gestation - unfavorable ecological situation, insufficient nutrition of a pregnant woman, stress, consumption toxic substances(alcohol, drugs, nicotine, medications prohibited for use by pregnant women).
Symptoms of an open oval window
Usually clinical manifestations isolated oval window in children (without the presence of congenital heart defects) are quite scarce. This structural anomaly in a newborn child can be suspected on the basis of the following complaints: rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath and cyanosis (gray or blue coloring) of the nasolabial triangle during crying and feeding. The child may have poor appetite and poor weight gain. Older children may have decreased tolerance (tolerance) to physical activity.
During intensive growth, as well as hormonal changes in the body ( adolescence, pregnancy), the load on the cardiovascular system as a whole increases, which can cause fatigue, weakness, and a feeling of interruptions in the functioning of the heart, especially during physical activity or sports.
In situations where the oval window does not heal even after the age of five, most likely it will accompany the person throughout his life, which, however, does not in any way affect his everyday and work activities. But at an older age (after forty to fifty years), when a person may develop diseases such as arterial hypertension And ischemic disease heart, the oval window can complicate the course recovery period after myocardial infarction and the course of chronic heart failure.
Diagnosis of the disease
The diagnosis is based on auscultation (listening) of the chest during examination of the child (systolic murmurs are heard), as well as on the basis instrumental methods research.
The main method for detecting a foramen ovale is imaging using echocardiography (ultrasound of the heart). Cardiac ultrasound should be performed on all children aged 1 month according to new therapeutic and diagnostic standards in pediatrics.
If the oval window is accompanied by congenital heart defects, then, if necessary, the doctor prescribes transesophageal echocardiography, an angiographic study (introduction of an X-ray contrast agent into the heart cavity through the vessels), carried out in a specialized cardiac surgery hospital.
Treatment of open oval window
With absence clinical symptoms and hemodynamic disorders ( pronounced changes in the work of the heart), which is most often found in the practice of a pediatrician, nor drug therapy, nor hospitalization in a hospital are not indicated. General strengthening procedures are prescribed - hardening, walks on fresh air, compliance balanced mode work and rest, proper nutrition, physiotherapy.
If minor complaints from the cardiovascular vascular system, it may be justified to prescribe vitamins and drugs that provide additional nutrition to the heart muscle - magne B6, panangin, analogues of L-carnitine (Elcar), coenzyme Q (ubiquinone).
In cases of combination with heart defects, the tactics of observation and treatment are determined by a cardiologist and cardiac surgeon with a choice optimal method surgical correction of defects. In recent years, London scientists have developed an operation in which the cavity of the right atrium is femoral vein A probe with a patch is inserted, which is applied to the window and dissolves within 30 days. This patch creates a kind of “patch” and additionally stimulates the formation of its own connective tissue in the interatrial septum, which leads to closure of the oval window. Surgical treatment not used in uncomplicated cases.
Complications of patent oval window in the heart
Among the extremely rare, almost isolated cases complications include “paradoxical” embolism – a dangerous, life-threatening condition. Emboli are tiny particles carrying gas bubbles, blood clots or pieces of fatty tissue. These substances should not normally be in the bloodstream, but they enter the bloodstream under different conditions. pathological conditions, for example, gas bubbles during air embolism, sometimes accompanying complex chest injuries with damage lung tissue; blood clots – with thrombophlebitis (vein diseases with the formation of wall blood clots); adipose tissue– with open bone fractures. The danger of these emboli is that when the foramen ovale is open, they can get from the right to the left atrium, then into the left ventricle, then through the vessels to reach the brain, where, clogging the lumen of the vessel, they will cause the development of a stroke or cerebral infarction. This complication can be fatal. It manifests itself as suddenly developing brain symptoms either immediately after injury, or during a period of prolonged immobilization, when the patient, after serious operations, injuries, serious illnesses forced to comply for a long time bed rest. Prevention of the development of thromboembolic complications in general is adequate therapy aimed at preventing increased blood clotting in acute diseases cardiovascular system, during injuries, during surgical interventions, etc.
As already mentioned, this complication is quite rare, but nevertheless, a patient with a patent foramen ovale should always warn his doctor about the presence of this structural feature of the heart.
Prognosis for open oval window
The prognosis for life, social and work activity is generally favorable, however, patients with an open foramen ovale are contraindicated in extreme sports, as well as professions related to increased load on the circulatory and respiratory systems - pilots, astronauts, divers.
To summarize everything written above, it should be noted that in modern medicine It is customary for doctors to attribute a patent foramen ovale more to the structural features of the heart than to serious developmental defects, since in most cases the functional load on the heart remains within normal limits. But still, due to the localization of this pathology in the heart as a vital organ, its significance should not be downplayed. In any case, the patient’s management tactics are determined by the cardiologist individually during an in-person examination.
General practitioner Sazykina O.Yu.
The news of an open foramen ovale in the heart alarms and worries many parents of children. different ages. As a rule, they learn about this diagnosis completely by accident: during preventive examination or conducting an ECG. In some cases, such an anomaly in the development of the heart does not manifest itself at all, and people live for many years without experiencing any inconvenience until serious ones appear.
In recent years, this feature in the structure of the heart has begun to be detected much more often, and in our article we will tell you about an open foramen ovale in the heart and the dangers that this diagnosis may pose in the future.
What is a patent foramen ovale in the heart?
During the first cry of a newborn, the oval window in the heart closes.The oval window is an open gap in the wall between the right and left atria, which normally functions in the embryonic period and completely closes after 12 months of life. On the left atrium side the opening is covered small valve, which is fully mature at the time of birth.
During the first cry of the newborn and the moment the lungs open, there is a significant increase in pressure in the left atrium and, under its influence, the valve completely closes the oval window. Subsequently, the valve adheres tightly to the wall of the interatrial septum and the gap between the right and left atria closes.
In most cases, in 40-50% of children, such “accretion” of the valve occurs in the first year of life, less often - by the age of five. If the valve size is insufficient, the gap cannot close completely and the right and left atria are not isolated from each other. In such cases, the child may be diagnosed with a patent foramen ovale in the heart (or MARS syndrome). This condition is classified by cardiologists as a minor anomaly of cardiac development, and, in the absence of severe symptoms affecting the quality of life can be perceived as individual feature structure of the heart.
An open foramen ovale in the heart is a through hole between the atria through which blood can be pumped from one atrium into another during contraction of the heart muscle.
In adult patients, this anomaly is detected in approximately 30% of cases. It is a channel, or shunt, between the atria and can cause disruption in the functioning of the cardiovascular system or lungs due to changes blood pressure.
Causes
Most common cause non-closure of the fissure between the atria becomes a genetic predisposition. In most cases, this anomaly is inherited through the maternal line, but can also be caused by a number of other reasons:
- prematurity of the child;
- connective tissue dysplasia;
- congenital heart defects;
- drug addiction or mothers;
- smoking during pregnancy;
- toxic poisoning from certain medications during pregnancy;
- stress;
- insufficient nutrition of a pregnant woman;
- unfavorable environment.
A patent foramen ovale is often detected with other heart defects: open and congenital defects of the tricuspid and valves.
The opening of the oval window can be facilitated by various factors risk:
- excessive physical activity (weightlifting and gymnastics, strength sports, diving);
- episodes of thromboembolism pulmonary artery in patients with pelvic problems or.
Symptoms
More often, an open foramen ovale in the heart does not manifest itself in any way, or makes itself felt only by scanty and nonspecific symptoms.
Young children with this anomaly may experience:
- blueness or sharp pallor of the circumlabial area or nasolabial triangle during straining, screaming, crying, coughing or bathing;
- tendency to bronchopulmonary diseases;
- slow weight gain.
Older children may have poor exercise tolerance, which manifests itself by increased heart rate and.
During puberty or during pregnancy, when the body experiences total hormonal changes, provoking an increase in the load on the cardiovascular system, a patent foramen ovale can manifest itself in frequent episodes and, fatigue and sensations of interruptions in the work of the heart. These manifestations are especially pronounced after intense physical activity. In some cases, such an anomaly in the development of the heart can lead to sudden and unmotivated fainting.
Non-closure of the oval window before the age of five indicates that, most likely, this anomaly will accompany the person throughout his life. IN at a young age and in the absence of cardiovascular lesions, it will have practically no effect on his well-being and work activity, but after 40-50 years and the development of heart or vascular diseases, the oval window can aggravate the course of these ailments and complicate their treatment.
Diagnostics
When auscultating heart sounds, the doctor may suspect patent foramen ovale, since this anomaly is accompanied by systolic murmurs of varying intensity. To confirm this diagnosis, the patient is recommended to use more accurate instrumental examination methods:
- Echo-CG (conventional and Doppler, transesophageal, contrast);
- radiography.
Invasive and more aggressive diagnostics of an open oval window are resorted to if necessary. surgical operation. In such cases, patients are prescribed probing of the cavities of the heart.
Treatment
If there are no signs of decreased heart function, a child with a patent foramen ovale is cared for as if he were healthy, without the use of medications. The volume of treatment is determined by the severity of the symptoms of an open oval window. In the absence of pronounced disturbances in the functioning of the heart, the patient is given. Reception medications at asymptomatic such an anomaly of the heart structure is not prescribed, and the patient is recommended to undergo general strengthening procedures (physical therapy, hardening and sanatorium-resort treatment).
If a patient has minor complaints about the functioning of the cardiovascular system, it may be recommended to take vitamin preparations and agents that provide additional restorative effects on the heart muscle (Panangin, Magne B6, Elkar, Ubiquinone, etc.). In such cases, the patient must adhere to big restrictions in physical activity and pay attention to general strengthening procedures.
With more severe symptoms, high risk thrombus formation and significant discharge of blood from one of the atria to the other, the patient is recommended to be monitored by a cardiologist and cardiac surgeon and the following measures may be prescribed:
- taking antiplatelet agents and anticoagulants (to prevent blood clots);
- endovascular treatment (through a catheter that is inserted into the femoral artery and moves into the right atrium, a patch is applied to the oval window, it stimulates the closure of the hole connective tissue and after a month it resolves on its own).
IN postoperative period For prophylaxis, the patient is prescribed antibiotics. Endovascular treatment of such an anomaly in the development of the heart wall allows patients to return to absolutely full life without any restrictions.
Possible complications
Complications of patent oval window develop quite rarely. This abnormal structure of the heart wall leads to the following diseases:
- kidney infarction;
- transient disorder cerebral circulation.
The cause of their development is paradoxical embolism. Although this complication is quite rare, the patient should always inform their doctor about the presence of a patent foramen ovale.
Forecasts
In the vast majority of cases, the prognosis for patients with a patent foramen ovale is favorable and rarely results in complications.
- constant monitoring by a cardiologist and echo-CG control;
- refusal of extreme sports and those involving significant physical activity;
- restrictions in the choice of professions associated with significant respiratory and cardiac stress (divers, firefighters, astronauts, pilots, etc.).
Surgical treatment for such an anomaly of heart development is prescribed only in cases of severe disturbances in the functioning of the cardiovascular system and lungs.
The heart is the basic life important organ, including the left and right ventricles and atria, which are connected on each side by special valves. The right and left elements must be separated by the interventricular and interatrial septum, which prevents the flow of blood. A patent foramen ovale in the heart in adults in the form of a shunt or open channel causes changes in cardiovascular system and in the lungs, due to the difference in blood pressure in the atria.
Main symptoms and signs
In patients, there are practically no obvious manifestations. With absence specific symptoms the doctor can only guess about the reasons for the inferiority of the oval window valve. However, there are a number of symptoms, the totality of which can be used to determine preliminary diagnosis. These include:
- slight cyanosis of the lips and discoloration of the nasolabial triangle due to physical effort and inflammatory colds, which include pneumonia, bronchitis, asthma;
- unexpected fainting, cerebrovascular accident, thrombophlebitis and varicose veins veins;
- exercise intolerance, respiratory discomfort and insufficiency, predisposition to acute respiratory infections;
- dyspnea;
- attacks of rapid heartbeat;
- migraine;
- changes in the right atrium in the form of a tendency towards its increase, which can be seen on the ECG;
- frequent numbness of the limbs and impaired mobility of body parts;
- presence of increased blood volume in the lungs.
The pathology causes severe pallor, lethargy, complications of activities associated with physical activity. The anomaly serves as a basis for exclusion from certain activities and from diving to depth.
Causes of heart disease
A patent foramen ovale in the heart in adults is observed in 30% of people. It persists from birth as a defect.
Reasons abnormal development is the consumption of alcoholic beverages by women during pregnancy, smoking, unfavorable environment, consumption various drugs, genetic predisposition, fetal malformations and a number of unidentified factors. A heart defect can appear as a completely patent foramen ovale (PFO) or a partial one, similar to a cleft. The severity of the disease depends on this degree.
The disease can be diagnosed using an ECG, contrast echocardiography, x-rays, or by listening to heart rhythms with a phonendoscope. A malfunction of the heart is manifested by noise. The anomaly can cause an embolism, which can lead to a stroke. The phenomenon is dangerous due to the direct entry of bacteria, gas bubbles and blood clots from the veins into the arteries, kidneys, limbs, and spleen. Open oval is very dangerous for pregnant women and for people who have varicose veins, pulmonary diseases or thrombophlebitis.
Treatment
Heart disease can cause severe heart failure, arrhythmia, transient cerebrovascular accidents, stroke, renal or myocardial infarction. Medical intervention in difficult situations consists of catheterizing the main organ or restoring the integrity of the septum through surgery.
If the heart is healthy, then it will be anatomically divided into two parts - left and right, between which there is a septum. IN right side the heart receives blood that does not yet contain oxygen, and the tissues of the organ direct this flow to the lungs, where oxygen saturation occurs and useful substances. After the lungs, the blood enters left side heart and from there it enters the blood circulation of the whole body. The partition between the left and right side heart is necessary so that the blood does not mix.
Some patients are diagnosed congenital damage intercardiac septum, namely, a hole in the wall of one of the septa. This hole between the chambers of the heart is defined in cardiology as an atrial septal defect, or ASD for short. If the hole is determined in the lower part of the septum between the left and right sides of the heart, then this pathology is called a defect interventricular septum VSD.
Pathogenesis
With both types of heart septal defect - interventricular and interatrial, blood without oxygen and blood enriched with oxygen mix with each other, which is normal in healthy person there shouldn't be. As a result of the development of pathology, the lungs can be filled with excess blood, which will lead to disruption of the cardiovascular system.
Causes
Why do VSDs and ASDs occur? The common reason is congenital. That is, even in the womb the child inherits this pathology. Causes of occurrence congenital pathology can be:
- Genetic factors, as a result of the progression of which the fetus develops a septal defect. This process is directly influenced by the fact that one of the parents also had a congenital heart defect.
- Concomitant genetic disorders in the child in the form of other abnormalities that can be determined at the 12th week of pregnancy (to do this, it is enough to do a blood test for genetic markers).
- Smoking and alcohol – if a child is born from a mother who smoked and drank alcohol during pregnancy, this leads to congenital heart defects in the fetus.
Symptoms
The first symptoms of a hole in the heart such as ASD appear in adulthood, despite the fact that this disease is congenital. In children, the pathology is almost impossible to diagnose.
A cardiologist diagnoses the presence of a hole in the heart based on the following signs:
- Pathological murmurs in the left and right atrium;
- Complaints of weakness, fatigue that does not go away even after a long rest;
- Dyspnea;
- Increased heart rate;
- Blue skin tone;
- Pathological swelling of the abdomen and lower extremities;
- History of stroke.
Symptoms of VSD pathology make themselves felt in the first year of a child’s life. An experienced pediatrician or cardiologist may already suspect a VSD in the first few days/weeks after the birth of a baby by a blue tint of the skin, cyanosis of the fingers and toes, loss of appetite, swelling of the lower torso and limbs, as well as pronounced .
Diagnostics
To confirm or refute the diagnosis of a hole in the heart, it is necessary to undergo diagnostics in the form of:
- Initial examination by a cardiologist using a stethoscope (a device that can detect murmurs in the patient’s heart);
- Echocardiography results;
- – electrocardiogram;
- Chest X-ray;
- Pulse examination;
- Examination of the heart through catheterization.
Treatment
If an atrial septal defect is detected in a child under one year of age, the parents will be advised to undergo constant monthly monitoring by a cardiologist. Treatment is not carried out in children under 12 months, as there is a possibility that the hole between the right and left sides of the heart will close on its own without medical intervention. If the hole does not heal until one year, then the parents little patient a choice is offered - either to perform an operation or to undergo catheterization. The main task of these manipulations is to seal the hole in the heart.
Catheterization
Catheterization is a method surgical intervention which is performed under anesthesia and involves inserting a special catheter into the area of the inguinal vein. A catheter is used to advance small discs toward the heart septum. Having reached their target (the heart), these discs are pushed towards the opening between the atria. A few months after such an operation, cardiac tissue grows around the discs and the pathology is removed.
Surgical intervention
Under surgical intervention refers to an operation during which the hole between the right and left sides of the heart is sealed with a special patch.
If a patient is diagnosed with a ventricular septal defect, then observation by a cardiologist is recommended. In the absence of any symptoms of the disease, the patient does not need help. The only thing is that small children are shown additional nutritional support, as well as the use of a special feeding tube.
If there is a pathological increase in the opening between the ventricles of the heart, it is necessary to perform open heart surgery.
Precautionary measures
If there is a hole between the ventricles of the heart, the patient is advised to take precautions. For this, in mandatory you need to be examined by a cardiologist. After this, you need to monitor how the wound heals for a year. It is not recommended to overload the heart muscle physical training. All you need to do during the rehabilitation period is to rest more, lead a healthy lifestyle, not be nervous, and be in a stable psycho-emotional state.