Dorothy FarrarHeart disease
Heart defects refer to congenital or acquired structural changes of the heart or the blood vessels connected to it. They always lead to heart dysfunction and reduced life expectancy. About one percent of all newborns suffer from a heart defect.
What is a heart defect?
The heart defect is a collective term for changes in the muscular (heart muscle) or connective tissue elements (heart valves, cardiac septum) of the heart. The changes are either congenital or acquired through chronic diseases. They permanently impair the performance of the heart.
However, there are good treatment options, so that today nine out of ten children with a heart defect reach adulthood through intensive medical care and can continue to be well cared for for a long time.
Causes
Congenital heart defects usually have genetic causes. Often these are chromosomal aberrations, whereby certain chromosomes are in the majority, as in Down, Edwards or Patau syndrome, or in the minority, as in Turner syndrome. In addition to other malformations, the heart is often involved in these syndromes.
Furthermore, monogenic hereditary disorders can also lead to heart defects. However, rarer causes of congenital heart defects are certain medications, infections (rubella) or drug or alcohol abuse during pregnancy. However, the mechanism of development of most congenital heart defects is still largely poorly understood.
When one speaks of heart defects, one usually thinks of early childhood congenital malformations of the heart. However, there are also acquired heart defects. These are often heart valve defects, which are the result of chronic heart muscle inflammation in rheumatic diseases. Ultimately, acquired heart defects lead to hypertrophy of the right or left ventricle with the typical symptoms of heart failure.
When to see a doctor?
A congenital heart defect is usually detected by the pediatrician. Later in life, a heart defect can be diagnosed based on some symptoms. Those affected often suffer from breathing difficulties or cardiac arrhythmias. Anyone who notices these symptoms should talk to a doctor immediately. In any case, a heart defect must be treated early. Otherwise, life-threatening complications may occur. The emergency passport issued as part of the treatment is also an important tool for first responders in the event of a medical emergency. For this reason: consult a cardiologist at the first signs of heart problems.
At the latest when severe chest pain, dizziness or headaches occur again and again, which are not due to any other cause, medical advice is required. High-risk patients and people with pre-existing conditions should discuss unusual symptoms with the responsible doctor. If a stroke or heart attack occurs as a result of a heart defect, the emergency doctor must be alerted immediately. Until the arrival of the doctor, first aid measures must be taken.
Symptoms and course
Typical symptoms of heart defects:
There are many forms of heart defects. Accordingly, there are no uniform symptoms. In general, there is a lack of performance of the heart. In some cases, the symptoms are so severe that survival is not possible. In other cases, the diagnosis of heart defects is an incidental finding because no symptoms are noticed.
The range of symptoms of the disease includes more or less respiratory problems, cardiac arrhythmias or thrombus formation. The increased blood clotting can possibly lead to stroke or heart attack. In the case of congenital heart defects, three forms can generally be distinguished. These include heart defects without shunt, heart defects with left-right shunt or heart defects with right-left shunt. Shunt refers to the mixing of oxygen-rich with oxygen-poor blood.
In the case of heart defects without a shunt, the left or right heart valve malfunctions, with long-term hypertrophy of the left or right ventricle resulting. This results in either left or right heart failure with the typical symptoms. In a left-to-right shunt, oxygen-rich blood from the left ventricle mixes with oxygen-poor blood from the right ventricle. The resulting overload of the right ventricle results in right heart failure in the long term.
Conversely, the admixture of oxygen-poor blood from the right ventricle to the oxygen-rich blood of the left ventricle in the right-to-left shunt causes stress and the body is undersupplied with oxygen. Respiratory problems with blue discoloration of the lips ( cyanosis ) occur. However, the anatomical conditions are different for every heart defect and require individual treatment.
Diagnosis
The diagnosis of heart defects is sometimes just an incidental finding during a routine medical examination. In the case of massive respiratory problems and poor performance, however, the doctor will always carry out cardiac examinations. First of all, it is important for him to get an idea of the patient from the anamnesis of the medical history. Especially if there is a known chromosomal abnormality, he should also perform a cardiac examination.
Complicated cardiovascular problems can be identified very well by Ultrasound examinations . Ultrasound examinations during pregnancy can also diagnose heart defects with a very high probability. Cardiac catheter examinations are also a good method of detecting heart defects.
Complications
As a rule, a heart defect does not heal itself. In any case, this complaint must be examined and treated by a doctor, otherwise, in the worst case, it can lead to the death of the person concerned. The heart defect can lead to a loss of consciousness or severe chest pain, especially in the case of heavy stress or exertion . Those affected often feel defeated and suffer from a significantly reduced resilience. Dizziness and headaches are also not uncommon.
In many cases, a heart defect is congenital and must be treated at an early age. The type of treatment depends very much on the cause and the exact heart defect. Special complications usually do not arise. Life expectancy is also not affected by successful treatment. If the heart defect occurs during a heart transplant, it can no longer be corrected in many cases. Unfortunately, the victim then dies.
treatment and therapy
There are many general treatments available to treat heart defects. Irrespective of the clinical picture, the placement of stents and balloon dilatation to widen blood vessels as well as operations have proven themselves. Of course, these therapy methods are adapted to the given anatomical peculiarities.
The variety of these different forms of heart defects are also faced with a large variety of surgical techniques. In particularly severe cases, life-saving operations must be carried out immediately after birth. With the treatment methods, it is always important to normalize the flow conditions of the blood in order to ensure a normal oxygen supply to the body. In this context, it is often also necessary to give blood-thinning agents to prevent the formation of blood clots due to a possibly reduced flow rate.
This is to prevent strokes or heart attacks. Overall, however, the patient requires lifelong treatment. Depending on the extent of the heart defect, these therapies either only lead to an improvement in the symptoms with a longer life expectancy or, ideally, to an extensive normalization of the physical condition.
Prevention
A genetic heart defect cannot be prevented. However, other risk factors should be ruled out during pregnancy. This includes avoiding infections, avoiding certain medications and not drinking alcohol. To prevent acquired heart defects in adulthood, chronic infections and rheumatic diseases should be treated urgently by a doctor.
Hello and welcome to my Health Guide & Encyclopedia! My name is Dorothy Farrar, and I'm the founder and main author of this platform.
My passion for health and wellness started at a young age when I became interested in the connection between the food we eat and the way we feel. This fascination led me to study nutrition and dietetics in college, where I learned about the importance of a balanced diet and the impact of various nutrients on the body.