The word “congenital” means inborn or present at birth. Each year, an estimated forty thousand children are born with a congenital heart disease. Statistics reveal that in the United States alone, there are more than 25,000 babies who are born with congenital heart defects and the sad fact is that the numbers are on the rise. Most of the children who are born with a congenital heart disease do not live past their first year. The defect can either be mild with no outward symptoms at all or be severe, with the child falling ill soon after birth. These defects hamper the blood flow to the heart and the blood vessels surrounding it. They may also cause blood within the heart to flow in an abnormal manner.
The atrial septal defect, more commonly known as hole in the heart, is a well-known congenital heart defect. This occurs when there is an opening or a hole in the atrial septum- the wall that divides the right and left chambers of the heart. There are other rare congenital heart defects, which include instances where the newborn has only one ventricle in the place of two. You will also find cases where both the aorta and the pulmonary artery arise from a single ventricle. Another rare defect is that of a hypoplastic heart- where either the left or right side of the heart is only partially formed.
A few reasons that may result in the occurrence of cardiovascular defects have been brought to light. In addition to heredity, if the parent has used or uses “street” or other prescription drugs or suffers from Down’s syndrome (which in most cases affects multiple organs), then the risk of the baby being born with a congenital heart disease is much higher.
Remedies for congenital heart defects are a few and may extend from surgery and long-term medication to even a heart transplant.
Tags: atrial septal defect, congenital heart defects, congenital heart disease
