Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Anomalous left coronary artery (ALCA) occurs when the left coronary artery arises from the pulmonary artery instead of its usual site of origin, the aorta. It is a rare problem comprising <1% of congenital heart defects.
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Anomalous pulmonary venous return (APVR) is a rare heart defect that occurs when the pulmonary veins fail to form normally while the baby is in the mother’s womb. It comprises <1% of all congenital heart defects. The cause of the problem is not known.
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Aortic stenosis is a term used to describe congenital heart defects that cause obstruction of blood flow from the heart to the body. Significant aortic stenosis is relatively uncommon affecting about 6 of every 1000 babies born and occurs more often in boys. It can occur alone, that is without other heart problems, or in association with bicuspid aortic valve, coarctation of the aorta, ventricular septal defect, mitral valve abnormality, and less commonly with atrial septal defect or complete at
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an arrhythmia (abnormal heart rhythm) that causes the heart’s upper chambers-the atria- to beat very fast and irregularly. It is quite rare in children but can occur in children with cardiomyopathy, after complex heart surgery, and very rarely, in children with otherwise normal hearts.
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Atrial flutter is an abnormal, rapid heart rhythm that comes from the heart’s upper chambers — the atria — causing them to beat at rates of 220 to 300 times a minute. Atrial flutter is uncommon in the young except when there is a history of heart surgery involving the atria. The operations associated with atrial flutter include the Fontan procedure, Mustard or Senning procedure, repair of tetralogy of Fallot, repair of total anomalous venous connection, and repair of atrial septal defect. The
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Atrial septal defect (ASD) is the second most common congenital heart defect and accounts for 10-15% of all congenital heart defects. They occur almost twice as frequently in girls. Atrial septal defects commonly occur in otherwise normal hearts but may be associated with other heart defects including pulmonary stenosis, ventricular septal defect, partial anomalous venous return, patent ductus arteriosus, mitral valve prolapse, and other more complex heart anomalies. The information on this page
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD) is a heart defect that involves the valves between the heart's upper and lower chambers and the walls between the chambers. Other terms used to describe this problem include endocardial cushion defect and AV canal defect. A similar but less serious form of atrioventricular septal defect is called primum atrial septal defect or incomplete or partial atrioventricular septal defect. The cause of atrioventricular septal defect is not known. Overall it is quite r
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Bicuspid aortic valve occurs when the aortic valve does not develop normally while the baby is in the womb. It is one of the most common congenital heart defect affecting about 20 per 1000 babies born.
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Coarctation of the aorta is a narrowing of the aorta that causes a blockage to blood flow. Most coarctations are congenital and are usually discovered in infancy; however, some coarctations develop over time. The narrowing may be discrete or may extend over a long segment of the aorta. Most coarctations are located in chest, but rarely they can occur in the abdomen. The terms "simple" and "complex" are used to describe coarctations that are either isolated or associated with other congenital hea
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
The term "complex single ventricle" and "uni-ventricular heart" are used to describe a group of rare heart defects, which have in common, a large single pumping chamber or ventricle instead of the usual two. In terms of health effects and surgical treatment, these defects are similar to two other defects described elsewhere in our site including hypoplastic left heart syndrome and tricuspid atresia. This group includes the more specific heart diagnoses of double inlet left ventricle and double i
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Corrected transposition of the great arteries is a very rare heart defect in which the heart’s lower two chambers, the ventricles, are reversed in their positions. It affects about 1 in 25,000 births and occurs equally in boys and girls.
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Dextrocardia is believed to occur in 1 in 10,000 births
Dextrocardia is a rare congenital condition (from birth) in which the heart is on the right-hand side of the body instead of the left. This is a rare condition. If the heart has developed normally, it does not pose any problems and no treatment will be necessary. Congenital heart defects can, however, in some rare cases accompany dextrocardia. In people with dextrocardia, other organs can also be in the reverse position, like the abdom
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) occurs when heart muscle cells are abnormal or damaged. Overall, it is quite rare in children. In many cases, DCM is genetic, that is, passed from parent to child through the chromosomes. Other less frequent causes include infection of the heart (such as viral myocarditis), endocrine (gland) problems, metabolic diseases, some chemotherapy drugs, and muscular dystrophy. In some children, the cause cannot be found.
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
The heart in this defect has four chambers and four valves.
In double outlet right ventricle, there is a large hole in the wall between the two pumping chambers called a ventricular septal defect (VSD). This allows the red and blue blood to mix. In addition, the body's two biggest arteries (the aorta and the pulmonary artery) both originate in the right ventricle. In a normal heart only the pulmonary artery comes out of the right ventricle. How the baby grows, feeds, and whether or not the b
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Ebstein’s anomaly occurs when the tricuspid valve fails to develop normally while the baby is in the womb. This problem ranges widely from very mild to severe. It is quite rare affecting 1 in 210,000 births and occurs equally in boys and girls.
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Heart block is an abnormal heart rhythm that usually results in a slow heart rate. It is caused by a problem in the heart’s electrical system, also called the conduction system. When a child has heart block, the electrical impulse is delayed or blocked completely as it travels from the heart’s upper chambers (the atria) to the heart’s lower chambers (the ventricles). There are three different types of heart block called first degree, second degree, and third degree heart block.
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Murmurs are sounds made by blood circulating through the heart's chambers or valves, or through blood vessels near the heart.
Heart murmurs may be caused by a number of factors or diseases, including the following:
• defective heart valves
• holes in the heart walls
• surgical repair of congenital (present at birth) heart defects
• fever
• anemia (a decrease in the red cells in the blood)
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
According to the latest statistics from The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), 280 children were waiting for a heart transplant in the United States on Sept. 30, 2000, including:
• 124 in the newborn to 5 years age group
• 43 in the 6 to 10 years age group
Nationally, children account for almost 6 percent of the 4,121 people who are on the heart transplant waiting list. Approximately 360 children receive heart transplants each year.
The first step in the heart transplant
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
"Cardiomyopathy" itself is a very general term referring to any condition (and there are many) importantly affecting the heart muscle itself while "hypertrophic cardiomyopathy" refers to a specific and genetic condition which usually shows a familial pattern. The most characteristic feature of HCM is a hypertrophied left ventricle (asymmetric thickening of the wall usually most prominently involving the ventricular septum) without abnormal enlargement of the ventricular cavities.
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
In this condition, for unknown reasons, the left side of the heart does not develop properly while the baby is in the mother's womb. The parts of the heart that are usually affected are the mitral valve, the left ventricle, the aortic valve, and the aorta. In the normal heart, red blood returning from the lungs, flows from the heart's left upper chamber called the left atrium through the mitral valve to the left ventricle where it is pumped through the aortic valve and out to the body.
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Mitral valve regurgitation means that one of the valves in your heart-the mitral valve-is letting blood leak backward into the heart.
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Mitral valve stenosis, or mitral stenosis is a condition in which the mitral valve narrows. This narrowing causes the valve to not open properly and to obstruct blood flow between the left upper and lower chambers of your heart.
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Myocarditis refers to an inflammation of the heart that usually results from an infection within the heart muscle itself. It is most often caused by a virus but can be caused by some bacteria (including the bacteria that causes Lyme Disease), fungi, autoimmune disorders like SLE (Systemic Lupus Erythematosis), and a host of medical drugs.
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) occurs when a blood vessel that is normal while a baby in the womb fails to close after the baby is born. The cause of the problem is not known and it affects one in 2000 babies that are born each year. It is more common in girls and much more common in premature infants. It may occur in children with otherwise normal hearts and occurs commonly in association with complex heart defects such as hypoplastic left heart syndrome, transposition of the great arteries
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Pulmonary atresia (PA) is a complicated congenital (present at birth) defect that occurs when the pulmonary valve, located between the right ventricle and pulmonary artery, is not formed properly.
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Pulmonary stenosis is relatively common and accounts for about 10% of heart defects diagnosed during childhood. It can occur in children with otherwise normal hearts or along with other congenital heart defects such as atrial septal defect or Tetralogy of Fallot. It occurs more frequently in children with Noonan syndrome and Williams syndrome which are both rare genetic conditions.
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Restrictive Cardiomyopathy is the rarest of the cardiomyopathies. This condition gets its name from the way it restricts the heart from stretching properly. While the rhythm and pumping action of the heart may be healthy, the stiff walls of the heart chambers keep them from filling normally. So blood flow is reduced, and blood that would normally enter the heart is backed up in the circulatory system. In time, the heart fails.
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is the most common arrhythmia (abnormal heart rhythm) diagnosed in children. It is said to occur in up to 1 in 2500 children. While the problem is often congenital, meaning it is present at birth, the onset and severity of symptoms varies. Most of the time, the problem occurs in children with otherwise normal hearts but it can occur along with other congenital heart problems.
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Tetralogy of Fallot occurs when the right side of the heart does not develop properly while a baby is in the mother's womb. A French physician, Etienne Fallot first described it, in 1888. The cause of the problem is not understood. The parts of the heart affected are the pulmonary valve, right ventricle and the ventricular septum.
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Total anomalous pulmonary venous return (TAPVR) is a heart defect in which one or all of the pulmonary veins between the lungs and heart are not properly connected.
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Complete transposition of the great arteries (TGA) occurs when the aorta, which normally comes off the left ventricle and pumps red blood to the body, arises from the right ventricle(1) and pumps blue blood returning from the body back to the body bypassing the lungs completely. The pulmonary artery, which normally arises from the right ventricle and pumps blue blood to the lungs, arises from the left ventricle (2) and sends red blood returning from the lungs right back to the lungs. Essentially
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Tricuspid atresia occurs when the tricuspid valve fails to develop while the baby is in the womb. This problem is quite rare, affecting 1 in 15,000 births, and it occurs equally in boys and girls.
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Truncus arteriosus occurs when the great arteries do not develop normally while the baby is in the mother’s womb. In this defect, instead of two large vessels that arise from the base of the heart, there is only one vessel. It is one of the rarer forms of congenital heart disease comprising about 1% of congenital heart defects and is slightly more common in boys than girls. It is also slightly more common in children of diabetic mothers.
Posted on Feb 16, 2008
Ventricular septal defect is the most common congenital heart defect and accounts for 20-30% of children seen in large pediatric cardiology clinics. The exact incidence is not known with estimates ranging from 2 to 5 out of every 1000 babies born. The cause of the problem is not well understood.