The Cardiology department at Aster Hospitals offers excellent treatment for a number of heart disorders that are present since birth and which can be categorized as congenital heart diseases (CHDs). They are also known as congenital heart defects and can involve:
Heart structure or walls: the typical heart wall structure may be faulty or poorly developed, causing the blood to back up into the heart or pool in irregular places. This puts extra pressure on the heart to function normally.
Heart valves: they could be poorly developed, rigid, absent, or closed. This can cause poor blood flow or leakage in the heart.
Heart vessels: the arteries and veins are faulty or poorly developed. This can cause health complications like blood leakage, high blood pressure, etc.
At Aster Hospitals, all these disorders are treated by skilled cardiologists backed by an efficient medical system.
There are several types of congenital heart diseases, and their severity depends upon the presence or absence of symptoms and the level of health deterioration with advancing age. Congenital heart defects affect millions of people worldwide, with people needing medical care throughout their lives and many of them being able to live their lives with very few or almost no side effects.
Differentiation of congenital heart diseases
- Cyanotic: this causes decreased oxygen blood levels. Symptoms in babies may include bluish skin appearance and breathlessness.
- Acyanotic: the blood oxygen levels remain normal, but the children may develop hypertension in later life.
Symptoms of congenital heart diseases can be:
- Newborns may show
- Bluish skin
- Breathing problems
- Difficulty with feeding
- Chest pain
- Developmental delays
- Low birth weight
In many cases, the symptoms do not appear much later in life
- Breathing issues
- Heart arrhythmias
- Dizziness or fainting of unknown cause
- Swelling
Cause of congenital heart diseases
There is no known specific cause to know why the heart fails to develop normally, but some known reasons can be
- Genetic reason
- Certain medications the mother takes during pregnancy can increase the chances of congenital heart defects.
- Alcohol or drug use during pregnancy
- Viral infection during 1st trimester of pregnancy
- High uncontrolled diabetes in mother
- Complications of CHD in Adulthood
- Heart arrhythmia
- Bacterial endocarditis
- Pulmonary hypertension
Heart Conditions Treated
- Coarctation of the aorta
- Atrial septal defect
- Ventricular septal defect
- Atrioventricular septal defect
- Pulmonary atresia
- Tetralogy of Fallot
- Hypoplastic left heart syndrome
- Tricuspid atresia
- Transposition of arteries
- Truncus arteriosus
