subject: Congenital Heart Failure – The Twinge of Heart Patients [print this page] Congenital Heart Failure The Twinge of Heart Patients
Congenital Heart Failure The Twinge of Heart Patients
Congenital heart diseases or defects are caused due to the major deformations in the heart or some of its most important blood vessels. These deformations are present in the body since birth, may be hereditary sometimes, and often acquired during the development of the fetus. Hence, it is called congenital disease. The occurrence of congenital heart defects is marked with the underdevelopment of parts of or surrounding the heart, like the interior cardiac walls, the valves inside the heart, and the veins and arteries that carry blood to and fro the heart. When heart failures occur due to such cardiac disorder and condition, it is called congenital heart failure.
The symptoms of congenital heart disease are different for different people. They range from being simple to fatal symptoms. There are, in all, 22 different kinds of congenital heart defects, and symptoms vary for each of them. The most common of such diseases are the ones which require utmost medical attention. They are ventricular septal defect or VSD, coartctation of the aorta, transposition of great arteries and the tetralogy of fallot. These are the main kinds of defects that contribute most to the occurrence of congenital heart failures among people in younger ages.
There is set of symptoms that can prove useful in recognizing the existence of congenital heart disease in a child or adult. These are the most general symptoms, not necessarily they may show up in every patient of congenital heart diseases. The signs include recurrence of infections of the lungs, rapid and shortened breaths, tiresome and fatigue, loss of appetite and hence loss of weight in a drastic way, diminished pulse rate and strength, a tinge of blue color on the skin around the mouth on lips and tongue even.
The frequency of occurrences of congenital heart defects, naturally, is moderate. 10 out of every 1000 children are born with these kinds of cardiac and pulmonary defects. Over a million people in a developed country, on an average, are living with congenital heart diseases. However, the survival rate for congenital heart failures has increased due to the advances in technology pertaining to the medical field. After surgeries and solving the problem, almost every patient is able to live a productive and active life. The most important thing still remains that these people, and some others who cannot go through the major heart operations, continue to need special care and attention throughout a lifetime.
