What should I look for if I don’t need surgery for a ventricular septal defect?

  Patient: Description of condition (onset, main symptoms, hospital visited, etc.): Female patient, congenital heart disease was detected in the first month of life during physical examination. The echogenic interruption of the upper ventricular septum was 2MM, and the surrounding tissues adhered to it to form a tumor-like expansion of 2MM*3MM, the maximum diameter of its upper breach was about 1.5mm, and the defect was located at 10 points of the short axis of the aorta. Easy to catch cold, sweating, light body, height can be. There is no treatment. 1. Does it require any procedure? When is it better to operate? 2.If the operation is interventional blockage or open chest? What are the sequelae?  Doctor: Please provide complete ultrasound information to help you analyze.  Patient: Thank you very much, Mr. Zhang for your timely reply, and you are not even off on Saturday, which is really touching. The complete ultrasound is described as follows, please guide me, thank you very much! Ultrasound: The size of each atrium is normal. The internal diameter of the aorta is normal; the main trunk of the pulmonary artery is not significantly widened. The septum is continuous; the upper part of the ventricular septum is interrupted by 2 mm, and the surrounding tissue is adhered to it to form a tumor-like expansion of about 2 mm*3 mm, and the maximum diameter of its upper breach is about 1.5 mm, and the defect is located at 10 points of the short axis of the aorta. The morphology, structure and activity of each valve were not abnormal. The thickness and beat amplitude of the posterior wall of the ventricular septum and left ventricle were normal. The development of the descending aortic arch was normal. No pericardial effusion sonogram was seen. Color Doppler ultrasound: left-to-right shunt was detected at the ventricular level with Vmax=2.8m/s; no shunt was seen in the rest of the heart. No significant abnormal blood flow was detected on both sides of each valve orifice. Conclusion: congenital heart disease ventricular septal defect (perimembranous type) left-to-right shunt at the ventricular level Doctor: You are welcome!  The child’s ventricular defect is small and partially adheres to the surrounding tissues, which may not be completely self-healing, but the defect is small and has little impact on the structure and function of the heart, so surgery is not required. Regular review is recommended. Pay attention to the prevention of endocarditis.  Wish your baby good health!  Patient: Mr. Zhang, thank you very much for your timely and pertinent reply. I am happy that no surgery is needed and my baby will not have to suffer from it, but I am worried that if it does not heal completely on its own, will it affect my body in the later stages? How often is it better to have regular check-ups? Also, is the baby’s sweating and frequent colds related to the disease? Also, what can I do to prevent endocarditis? I have a lot of questions, so I’d like to thank you for your help.  Doctor: You’re welcome!  If it does not heal on its own throughout life, it does not necessarily need surgical treatment. It may not have much effect on health.  Sweating may be related to calcium deficiency, tuberculosis sweating, poor cardiac function, etc., but the defect is small and does not affect cardiac function much. The cold may be related to ventricular defect or poor physical condition. The ultrasound can be reviewed every 6 months to 1 year, and if there is no change, surgery can be avoided.  Endocarditis is related to ventricular defect, such as tooth extraction, skin breakdown, upper respiratory tract infection, etc. Bacteremia may lead to endocarditis, although the chance is small, but timely antibiotic treatment is needed to prevent endocarditis.