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WHAT IS A HEART DISORDER?

 

Nearly one in 100 babies has a heart disorder at birth. These disorders are usually caused either by a fault in the 'plumbing' - those parts of the heart blood moves through - or in the 'electrics' – the pacing of nerve messages which tell the heart when to beat and how fast.

 

Typical 'plumbing' faults could be a narrowing or a hole in the heart, while pacing faults cause arrhythmia, when the heart beats too fast, slowly or is irregular.

There are many kinds of disorders of the heart - most are minor and need no treatment, some may need medicines or medical procedures to cure them and, in a few cases, a baby will need heart surgery.

 

Babies often have a heart murmur when they are born. It usually disappears within a few days.

 

Symptoms

 

Almost all babies with heart disorders look normal and behave normally. However, symptoms may include:

 

• More frequent chest infections
• Looking pale
• Difficulties feeding because the baby tends to tire quickly
• Blueness or breathlessness 

Heart murmurs

 

A 'murmur' describes extra sounds that blood makes as it passes through the valves and blood vessels of the heart. Newborn babies often have murmurs because parts of the system they used before birth are closing.

 

• An unusual murmur in a newborn, or one picked up at the routine eight ­week check, could mean there is a heart disorder - the sound could be made by blood crossing through a hole, or a valve that is too narrow. 
• If your baby has an unusual murmur your GP will refer her to a paediatrician. If he is not satisfied that the murmur is normal, your baby will be referred to a cardiologist. 
• The Children's Heart Federation (freephone 0808 808 5000) offers information on heart disorders. 

Test for heart disorder

 

Tests to determine the nature of the problem may include:

 

Health check: the cardiologist will look at your baby to see if he is showing any signs of heart disorder, such as blueness or breathlessness. He will also want to know your baby's birth weight (in kilos) and may ask about your baby's feeding and sleeping habits.

 

Chest X-ray: this is sometimes needed to look at the position of the organs in the chest.

 

ECHO (echocardiogram): this is similar to the ultrasound you may have had in pregnancy, but looking at the baby's heart this time.

ECG (electrocardiogram): leads are placed over your baby's chest and a reading is taken of the electrical activity of the heart.

 

Pulse oximetry test: this test checks the amount of oxygen in your baby's blood by using a clip on the finger, ear or toe.

 

The heart specialist will want to know how much your baby weighed at birth. A baby with a heart condition may be slow to gain weight after birth.

 

Common types of heart disorder

 

Congenital: when a baby is born with the problem. Some congenital conditions are inherited from the baby's parents, others occur in the womb while the baby is developing.

 

Patent, or Persistent, Ductus Arteriosus (PDA): patent means open. Persistent means that it remains after the birth. When the baby is in the womb, blood bypasses the lungs through the ductus arteriosus. If it doesn't shut after birth, too much blood will be pumped through the lungs.

 

Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD): when a hole appears between the two ventricles, red blood is pumped from the left ventricle to the right, instead of round the body.

 

Atrial Septal Defect (ASD): this means that there is a hole between the two atrial chambers: red blood will mix with blue blood and be pumped to the lungs.

 

Pulmonary Stenosis: the pulmonary valve is narrowed. This means that there is a reduction in the amount of blue blood that can get to the lungs.

 

Aortic Stenosis: the aortic valve is narrowed. This means that there is a reduction in the amount of red blood that can get to the body.

 

A heart defect in an unborn baby may be detected by an ultrasound scan when the baby is still in the womb.

 

What is the treatment?

 

Medicines: used to regulate a very fast heartbeat, or to get rid of a build-up of excess fluid in the heart.

Catheter intervention: used to close an ASD or PDA by putting a device on the end of a fine tube and feeding this through a vein into the ductus or hole.

 

Open-heart surgery: sometimes needed for larger VSDs and ASDs, although many VSDs will close spontaneously as the child gets bigger.

 

Monitoring: your child will be monitored before and after treatment

 

Surgeons will need to assess the blood flow to the heart before any surgery. A catheter is inserted into the artery and guided by X-ray to the heart.

 

How the heart works

 

The right side of the heart collects blue blood (de-oxygenated), which returns from the body, into the right, atrium. The left atrium collects red blood which has picked up oxygen from the lungs. Both atria contract, pumping blood through the valves into to the left and right  Ventricles.  As the right ventricle contracts, it pumps blue blood through the pulmonary valve, into the pulmonary arteries and so to the lungs. The left ventricle pumps at much .higher pressure through the aortic valve into the aorta and so round the body.

 

Parts of the heart

 

Aorta: the artery through which red blood is pumped to take oxygen to the body.

 

Aortic valve: the valve that lets blood into the aorta and stops it from leaking back into the heart.

 

Atrial chambers: the two chambers of the heart in which collects.

 

Mitral valve: the valve that lets blood into the left ventricle, and stops it from leaking back.

 

Pulmonary artery: the artery through which blue blood is pumped to the lungs to pick up oxygen.

 

Pulmonary valve: the valve that lets blood into the pulmonary artery, and stops it from leaking back.

 

Tricuspid valve: the valve that lets blood into the right atrium and stops it from leaking back.

 

Septum: the wall between the right and left sides of the heart.

 

Ventricles: the two pumping chambers of the heart. 

 

For  More  Information:  Please  consult  your  physician  on  your  next  visit.