Definition of Congenital heart disease
Congenital heart disease: A malformation of the heart or the large blood vessels near the heart. The term "congenital" speaks only to time, not to causation; it means "born with" or "present at birth."
Congenital heart disease is the most frequent form of major birth
defects in newborns affecting close to 1% of newborn babies (8 per
1,000). This figure is an underestimate since it does not include
some common problems, namely:
- Patent ductus arteriosus in preterm babies (a temporary condition)
- Bicuspid (two cusps) aortic valve (the aortic valve usually has
three cusps or flaps)
- Mitral valve prolapse (drooping of a heart valve)
- Peripheral pulmonary stenosis (narrowing of the lung vessels well
away from the heart)
There are a great many types of congenital heart disease. Here is an outline of the major categories of congenital heart disease and
some of the more prominent entities within those categories.
Detour defects within the heart: Defects may cause blood
to take an abnormal route through the heart, passing directly between
the right and left sides of the heart. This occurs when there is a
defect in the wall (the septum) that normally separates the right and
left sides of the heart. There is "a hole in the heart." The two most
common types of septal defect are:
- Atrial septal defect (ASD)
- Ventricular septal defect (VSD)
Less common types of CHD with altered routes of blood flow
include:
- Eisenmenger's complex
- Atrioventricular (A-V) canal defect (also called an endocardial
cushion defect)
Detour defect outside the heart: Patent ductus arteriosus
(PDA) is a special type of a blood routing problem located outside
the heart. The ductus arteriosus is a prenatal shunt between the
pulmonary artery and the aorta that remains open (patent) after
birth, letting blood that should flow through the aorta to the body
return to the lungs.
Obstructive defects: A number of types of CHD obstruct
blood flow within the heart or the great vessels near it. They do so
via a narrowing that partly or completely blocks the flow of blood.
The narrowing (a stenosis) can occur in heart valves, arteries or
veins. The three most common forms of CHD with obstructed blood flow
are:
- Pulmonary (valvular) stenosis
- Aortic stenosis
- Coarctation of the aorta
Less common forms of CHD with obstructed blood flow include:
- Bicuspid aortic valve
- Subaortic stenosis
- Ebstein's anomaly
Cyanotic defects ("blue babies"): Some types of CHD cause
cyanosis
(bluing). The blood pumped to the body has less-than-normal amounts
of oxygen. This results in cyanosis, a bluish discoloration of the
skin. Types of cyanotic forms of CHD include:
- Tetralogy of Fallot
- Transposition of the great arteries
- Tricuspid atresia
- Truncus arteriosus
- Total anomalous pulmonary venous return
- Pulmonary atresia
Hypoplastic heart defects: Part of the heart may
selectively be underdeveloped or hypoplastic, as in:
- Right heart hypoplasia
- Left heart hypoplasia
Other developmental heart defects: A number of other
defects in
heart development can occur, such as:
- Single ventricle (There is only one ventricle)
- Double outlet right ventricle (Both the aorta and pulmonary
artery emanate from the right ventricle)
Alternative names for congenital heart disease include: congenital heart defect,
congenital heart malformation, congenital cardiovascular disease,
congenital cardiovascular defect, and congenital cardiovascular
malformation.
For a more complete treatment of this topic, see the full-length article on Congenital Heart Disease.
Last Editorial Review: 12/1/2000Common Misspellings: congenital heart diease, congenital heart desease
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