Diagnosis and treatment of the etiology of congenital heart disease

  Congenital heart disease is a malformation of the heart vessels due to abnormal development of the heart vessels during fetal life and is the most common heart disease in pediatrics. They include atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect, patent ductus arteriosus, tetralogy of Fallot, large vessel misalignment, pulmonary artery stenosis, aortic constriction, etc. In the past 20 years, due to the development of advanced modern examination techniques and advances in hypothermic anesthesia, extracorporeal circulation and cardiac surgery, many common congenital heart diseases can be accurately diagnosed and radically treated, and some complex heart malformations can also be surgically treated.  Etiology: Any factors affecting the embryonic development of the heart during the fetal period may cause heart malformation, such as rubella, influenza, mumps, coxsackie virus infection, diabetes, hypercalcemia, etc., exposure of the pregnant mother to radiation, anti-cancer drugs or methotrexate, etc.  Clinical manifestations: 1. The growth and development of the affected children may lag behind those of the same age, and they are prone to respiratory tract infections.  2. Atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect and ductus arteriosus are usually not cyanotic in the early stage, but cyanosis may appear after strenuous activity or crying and laughing, and may appear with age and development to late stage. In right-to-left shunt congenital heart disease with severe heart malformation, such as tetralogy of Fallot children, cyanosis can appear after birth or weeks to months, and gradually worsen.  3. On auscultation of the heart, a systolic murmur can be heard at the left border of the sternum.  Treatment: Due to the uneven medical conditions and technical levels at all levels and in all regions, some medical units are not mature enough for early diagnosis of precardiac disease, so that many precardiac diseases are not diagnosed early, thus delaying treatment, such as precardiac disease complicated by Eisenmenger’s syndrome, which is a contraindication to surgery, often lost the opportunity to operate, so that many children die at a young age.  At present, the technology of surgical treatment of precocious heart disease is very mature, especially for many small age, low weight, difficult and complex heart malformations, surgical techniques continue to improve, the survival rate is increasing year by year. Therefore, if parents find that their children have the above conditions, they should go to the hospital as soon as possible for a comprehensive heart examination and early diagnosis and treatment.