Congenital heart disease
Overview
Congenital heart disease is when you are born with a heart defect, like a hole in your heart. This can affect the way blood flows around your body. Treatments include medicine and sometimes surgery.
Symptoms
Symptoms of congenital heart disease may be present from birth and in childhood, such as: difficulty in feedingbeing slow in putting on weight and growingswelling around the tummy and swollen hands, ankles and feet Sometimes symptoms do not appear until you're a teenager or adult. Common symptoms of congenital heart disease include: feeling tired all the timeshortness of breathbeing sweatier than usual, but skin feels cool and clammyheart palpitations- when your heartbeat feels uncomfortable or unusualareas of the skin and lips turning blue or grey (cyanosis) - this may be easier to see on black or brown skin by checking the palms of the hand, soles of the feet, lips, gums and inside the eyelid It’s common to have a heart murmur, where your heartbeat has an unusual sound. This is something a doctor can diagnose using a stethoscope.
Causes
Congenital heart disease develops while your heart is still being formed inside the womb. Sometimes problems with your heart are caused by an altered gene being passed on from one of your parents. But often there is no clear reason why someone is born with congenital heart disease. If you’re pregnant, you may be more likely to have a baby with congenital heart disease if: you’reliving with obesityyou smoke, or are exposed to second-hand smokeyou havegestational diabetesyou get an infection such asrubella
Treatment
If you or your child are diagnosed with congenital heart disease, you’ll be referred to a specialist team at an NHS hospital. You or your child may only need regular check-ups after diagnosis and treatment may only be needed if symptoms get worse. If you have congenital heart disease, you may need to take medicine: to strengthen your heart beat and increase the oxygen in your blood (digoxin)to reduce fluid build-up in your body (diuretics)to help improve blood flow (ACE inhibitors)to help control an irregular heartbeat (anti-arrhythmics) Depending on your condition, you may need surgery as soon as you are born, or much later in your life. Surgery for congenital heart disease includes: keyhole surgeryopen heart surgery In rare cases, you may need to have a heart transplant or a heart and lungs transplant. Medicines for heart conditions (British Heart Foundation) Heart surgery (British Heart Foundation)