Classification of congenital heart disease

  Congenital heart disease can generally be divided into two major categories: cyanotic and non-cyanotic precocious heart disease.  Cyanotic congenital heart disease includes: Tetralogy of Fallot, Tetralogy of Fallot, complete transposition of the great arteries, complete ectopic pulmonary venous drainage, complete endocardial cushion defect, tricuspid atresia, pulmonary atresia, single ventricle, right ventricular double outlet, common arterial trunk, and interrupted aortic arch. Severely ill infants can present at birth or shortly after birth with facial or even generalized cyanosis, wheezing, shortness of breath, depression, refusal to feed, low response, and recurrent heart failure, and usually have difficulty surviving past one year of age if not treated promptly.  In milder cases, cyanosis may be inconspicuous, but it appears around 6 months after birth and gradually worsens, often in the lips, finger/toe nail beds, earlobes and nasal tips, and gradually appears to be enlarged at the ends of the fingers/toes (i.e. “pestle-like fingers/toes”). Difficulty in breathing may occur when feeding or crying, and in severe cases, sudden fainting and convulsions may occur. Older children may complain of headache and dizziness, and often crouch down to rest for a moment while walking or playing.  Non-cyanotic precipitations include: atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect, patent ductus arteriosus, main pulmonary septal defect, simple pulmonary stenosis, supra/subvalvular aortic stenosis, mitral valve insufficiency, tricuspid valve insufficiency, and partial pulmonary vein ectopic drainage. In milder cases, there may be no obvious discomfort and only a heart murmur is detected during physical examination; in severe cases, feeding difficulties, vomiting, malnutrition, fatigue, shortness of breath, and cyanosis may occur during crying in infancy; immune deficiency, coughing, recurrent colds and pneumonia, and easily combined with heart failure; as the disease progresses, cyanosis may occur when the pulmonary artery pressure gradually increases.  Any child with the above symptoms should be alerted to the possibility of congenital heart disease and should go to the hospital for timely examination, including electrocardiogram, x-ray chest X-ray and echocardiogram, and the diagnosis of the simpler congenital heart disease can be made clearly by the above examination. If the diagnosis cannot be made clearly, further examinations such as cardiovascular imaging, cardiac catheterization and computed tomography scan should be done in a cardiovascular specialist hospital.