When do congenital heart anomalies occur

Structural defects of the chromosomes may sometimes occur. This is when a piece of a chromosome is missing.

Or it may be duplicated. These also cause health problems. Problems with chromosomes that lead to genetic syndromes, such as Down syndrome, often result in a higher risk of heart problems in babies. A chromosome analysis can be done from a small blood sample.

The test looks for a chromosome problem in a child with a CHD. This can show if chromosomes caused the problem. There are about 70, genes on the 46 chromosomes in each cell of the body. Genes come in pairs.

In each paid, 1 gene is inherited from the mother, and the other from the father. Genes help to control our traits. And they also may cause health problems due to gene changes mutations. When a single gene is changed, a number of health problems may occur.

Some of the genetic syndromes that have a higher rate of heart defects include:. Other genetic syndromes that are not due to a single gene defect, but are associated with CHD. Read more about the causes of congenital heart disease and preventing congenital heart disease.

Many cases of congenital heart disease are diagnosed before a baby is born during an ultrasound scan in pregnancy. However, it's not always possible to detect congenital heart defects in this way.

Congenital heart disease can have a number of symptoms, particularly in babies and children, including:. These problems are sometimes noticeable soon after birth, although mild defects may not cause any problems until later in life. Read more about the symptoms of congenital heart disease and diagnosing congenital heart disease. There are many types of congenital heart disease and they sometimes occur in combination.

Some of the more common defects include:. Read more about the types of congenital heart disease. Treatment for congenital heart disease usually depends on the defect you or your child has. Mild defects, such as holes in the heart, often don't need to be treated, as they may improve on their own and may not cause any further problems.

Surgery or interventional procedures are usually required if the defect is significant and causing problems. Modern surgical techniques can often restore most or all of the heart's normal function. Some defects are mild and cause no significant disturbance to the way the heart functions. However, more than half of all children with CHD have a condition that is serious enough to require treatment. The heart is a double pump made up of four chambers.

Its role is to provide the body with oxygen. The heart takes blood through these stages:. Some children develop a heart problem after an illness. Illnesses that can lead to a heart problem include myocarditis inflammation of the heart muscle , cardiomyopathy disease of the heart muscle , rheumatic heart disease a disease that may follow streptococcal bacterial infection and Kawasaki disease a disease with fever, rash and swollen lymph glands that may affect the heart.

These are called acquired heart disorders. Some children with genetic conditions such as Noonan syndrome can also have heart abnormalities. In around eight out of 10 cases, the reason for the congenital heart defect is unknown. Some of the known causes of CHD include:. Ventricular septal defect is the most common congenital heart defect in Victoria. The ventricles are the two lower pumping chambers of the heart.

Ventricular septal defect means there is a hole in the wall between the ventricles. This hole lets oxygenated and deoxygenated blood mix. In a child with this condition, the heart has to work much harder than normal, and may enlarge. Symptoms include breathlessness, difficulty feeding, increased heart rate and failure to grow at the expected rate.

Depending on the severity of the condition, the child may develop congestive heart failure and have an increased risk of developing pneumonia. Treatment for ventricular septal defect depends on the severity of the defect. If the hole is small, it may heal by itself with time, and no treatment — other than careful monitoring — is needed.

Large defects, with symptoms in infancy, may require open-heart surgery. In some cases, generally in older children when the hole has not closed and is still causing strain on the heart, a catheter procedure may be possible and the defect closed with an implantable device. Blood from the left ventricle is taken to the body by the aorta the main artery of the body.

Transposition of the great vessels means this situation is reversed, with the pulmonary artery attached to the left ventricle and the aorta to the right.

Oxygenated blood is pumped back to the lungs instead of around the body. This defect can be fatal in the early weeks of life if it is not treated. Some babies survive longer if there is a hole in the partition between the upper or lower chambers of the heart, allowing the blood to mix. The main symptom of transposition of the great vessels is cyanosis, the blue colouring to the skin caused by lack of oxygen. Treatment for transposition of the great vessels involves a procedure called balloon septostomy.

This may need to be carried out to enlarge the small opening between the atria that is normally present at birth, so that more oxygenated blood can reach the body. Subsequent surgery will be organised, usually in the first two weeks of life, to reconnect the arteries normally. This means that blood pressure in the lower body is lower than normal.