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Heart defects are ailments characterized by an abnormal structure and function of the heart muscle, which are most often detected right after the birth of a child. We can distinguish many congenital and acquired defects, all of which cause blood flow disturbances and are life-threatening.
The most common heart defects
The simplest and most common heart defects are:
- narrowing of the left atrio-ventricular outlet (loads the left atrium),
- narrowing of the connection between the left ventricle and the main artery (aorta) – causes that the flow of arterial blood from the left ventricle to the aorta and further to the vascular bed of the large circulation is significantly impeded. As a consequence, there is an additional burden and the need for more work of the left ventricle,
- Mitral valve regurgitation causes a certain amount of arterial blood during left ventricular contraction to flow retrograde from the left ventricle to the left atrium instead of flowing with its entire “stroke” volume to the aorta. This additionally leads to a load on the left atrium and the need for increased work.
In fact, there are many more heart defects that can be mentioned. This is probably unnecessary, as the intention was only to present the essence of blood flow abnormalities and other problems that occur in certain parts of the heart in the case of a heart defect.
Heart defects – breakdown
We usually divide heart defects into:
- congenital defects – develop already in the fetal, i.e. intrauterine life; they usually result from abnormal intra-cell development of the heart;
- acquired – their development occurs after the birth of the child after the birth of the child. The most common heart defects are a consequence of a history of endocarditis (also bacterial) or rheumatic ailments.
Heart defects can also be:
- simple – that is, a single anatomical defect, e.g. mitral, tricuspid valve, aortic or pulmonary artery insufficiency;
- complex – two types of this defect, i.e. stenosis of the left venous opening (between the left atrium and the left ventricle) and the mitral valve regurgitation located in this outlet, or when there are single defects, but in two different places (e.g. stenosis of the left arterial outlet and regurgitation) tricuspid valve).
Another division distinguishes heart defects:
- cyanosis – a patient with a heart defect suffers from less or more pronounced cyanosis, which affects the lips, conjunctiva, oral mucosa, earlobes or skin);
- anaerobic – usually acquired – are characterized by disturbances in blood flow, but do not divert deoxygenated blood to the large circulation, bypassing the small circulation.
Heart defects and prevention
Congenital heart defects can be prevented by proper care and protection of the fetus – pregnant women should minimize the risk of infectious diseases, eating processed and contaminated food. Rheumatic disease and bacterial endocarditis should also be prevented.
A man with a heart defect
A person with a heart defect is not actually a sick person who requires intensive care. Instead, it is, in a sense, crippled by a permanent defect in the functioning of the heart. Patients with a heart defect should take care of a healthy lifestyle. An existing heart defect does not require treatment as long as there is no active inflammation in the heart, especially endocarditis. This type of disease requires a healthy lifestyle, avoiding, above all, any unnecessary and excessive physical effort and conducting medical check-ups.
In people with heart disease, there is a certain predisposition to endocarditis and its recurrences, and to easier and earlier occurrence of heart failure and arrhythmias.
It should also be mentioned that the existing heart defects, as a result of additional loads on some of its parts, lead to their hypertrophy and even dilatation, which in turn causes a change in the size and configuration of the heart’s silhouette.
A patient with a diagnosed heart defect should undergo specialist examinations in terms of the possibility of correcting the defect by means of cardiosurgery. The earlier cardiosurgical treatment is undertaken, the better the results of this treatment are. Today’s medicine, unfortunately, does not know the possibility of conservative, non-surgical treatment of heart defects. It can only eliminate undesirable consequences of an existing heart defect, e.g. circulatory failure or arrhythmias. All recurrences and exacerbations of heart inflammation require systematic examination and treatment by a doctor, usually in a hospital setting.
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