Best time for surgery for congenital heart disease

Congenital heart disease refers to congenital heart disease. Nowadays, many babies are born with heart disease, which is very stressful and painful for both the babies and their parents. If a congenital heart disease occurs, the baby will be very uncomfortable, and in severe cases it may be life-threatening. Treatment of congenital heart disease requires surgery. So, when is the best time to undergo congenital heart disease surgery?

According to a survey, there are about 200,000 babies born in my country every year with various congenital heart diseases, of which about 30% die in infancy. However, even more babies are not examined in time, resulting in the disease being discovered too late.

Therefore, mothers should take precautions before it happens and have their babies checked for congenital heart disease in a timely manner. But it should be noted that not all babies who are diagnosed with "symptoms" of congenital heart disease need to undergo surgery. Mothers don't need to rush. Doctors will recommend mothers to undergo surgery or wait for the baby to recover on their own based on the specific situation.

Generally speaking, children with congenital heart disease who have a mild disease and do not have significant impact on their growth and development and who do not show significant progression within a short period of time do not need to undergo surgery in a hurry. For example, about 20% of small atrial septal defects can close on their own, so there is no need to rush for surgery. However, if they have not closed before school age, surgical treatment is required. Some congenital heart diseases require early surgery, otherwise the treatment will be delayed.

Do you know when to have surgery for congenital heart disease?

1. Large ventricular septal defect, patent ductus arteriosus and primary atrial septal defect: These children have a large shunt volume from the left ventricle to the right ventricle, and have severe symptoms, such as frequent respiratory tract infections, pneumonia, and heart failure, which are difficult to control with medication. Pulmonary hypertension may also occur in the early stages. Such patients should undergo surgery before the age of two, and some even require surgery in infancy. Otherwise, severe pulmonary hypertension may occur, which may affect the effectiveness of the surgery or delay the timing of surgery, and also affect the growth and development of the child.

2. Tetralogy of Fallot and pulmonary valve closure: These two types of congenital heart diseases prevent venous blood from entering the pulmonary circulation for oxygenation. Only a small amount of blood enters the pulmonary circulation for oxygenation through ventricular septal defect or ductus arteriosus. The affected children will have cyanosis shortly after birth, and the cyanosis will worsen when feeding or crying. Without early surgery, about 2/3 of children will die within 1 year of age. Therefore, these patients should undergo palliative surgery in the early stages and then radical surgery when they grow up.

3. Aortic coarctation and interrupted aortic arch: These two congenital heart diseases are often combined with ventricular septal defect and patent ductus arteriosus. Due to aortic coarctation or interruption of aortic arch, the afterload of the left heart increases. On the one hand, a large amount of blood is shunted to the pulmonary artery, causing recurrent pneumonia, heart failure and pulmonary hypertension. On the other hand, high blood pressure appears in the upper body and low blood pressure or cyanosis in the lower body. If not treated surgically early, hypertension will persist for a long time even if it is treated later. With early surgical treatment, blood pressure can return to normal after surgery.

In short, there are many types of congenital heart diseases and the timing of treatment varies. Some can wait for the best time, while others should be treated surgically immediately after birth.