Birth defects in the development of heart and large vessels in medicine are called congenital heart disease. They arise due to improper formation of the heart and major vessels of the fetus in the womb. The reasons may be different: it is transferred to the mother during pregnancy, infectious diseases (especially dangerous measles), and alcohol abuse, which is also particularly dangerous in the first half of pregnancy, when laid, all systems and organs of the unborn child.
Today, ultrasound of the fetus allows diagnosis about 95% of the various forms of heart diseases. This is especially important for those cases where surgery was required in the first hours of life. This ultrasound will help solve the question of the possibility of pregnancy. In addition, based on ultrasound data, the expert concluded that, whether it is necessary to provoke premature birth, and what should be their course. It is obvious that a child with congenital heart disease cannot move the passage of the birth canal, and often these kids are born by Caesarean section.
Heart disease in infants is usually recognized by physicians and in infancy, as signs of heart disease rather expressive: it is above all the noise, listen to the baby over his heart, and cyanosis of the skin. But even if these symptoms do not have a professional specialist cardiologist can diagnose congenital heart disease, guided by other symptoms.
The disease may be different. In some cases, heart disease may not manifest itself throughout the patient’s life. More frequently, only patients suffering from congenital heart disease, are lagging behind their peers; they have some ability to work reduced, as well as resistance, so they often suffer from all possible infectious diseases. So, for parents useful to know that some children suffering from persistent bronchitis and recurrent pneumonia, found in the end, latent congenital heart disease.
Heart disease can be treated more often surgically. But the operation is effective only if it is produced in a timely manner, in the stage of heart disease when it has not yet led to irreversible changes in internal organs, especially in the pulmonary blood vessels. That’s why it’s so important to get information on heart defects in the child before birth. In the case when the operation is performed immediately after birth, a child’s chances for a full healthy life increased many times over.
So, speaking about the prevention of congenital heart disease, want, above all, to remind expectant mothers that they had before childbirth must do everything in their power to ensure their baby is born healthy. This means that you must fulfill all the recommendations of an obstetrician-gynecologist: planning pregnancy, monitor their health and in any case do not forget about regular medical examinations, including a cardiologist.