Congenital heart disease treatment should not be “wait until you are older”!

  There are many children with congenital heart disease who come to the hospital for surgery when the heart valves are already severely closed and the heart form is significantly enlarged or produces severe pulmonary hypertension, making the surgery more difficult and risky, and in severe cases the opportunity to operate is lost. For this reason, our cardiac surgeons have repeatedly emphasized the need for early surgical treatment of congenital heart disease.  Congenital heart disease (congenital heart disease) is one of the common congenital anomalies in children. About 7‰-11‰ of babies born in China each year have congenital cardiovascular anomalies, mostly seen as ventricular and ventricular septal defects, patent ductus arteriosus, pulmonary valve, aortic valve stenosis and tetralogy of Fallot, large vessel misalignment, etc. Approximately 1/2 of all children with precordial disease die within the first year of life due to severe cardiac anomalies. Survivors are prone to recurrent respiratory infections, growth retardation, and poor physical strength at all ages of their growth and development. If left untreated, they will eventually lead to pulmonary hypertension, heart enlargement, heart failure, and in some cases, life-threatening complications of endocarditis, embolism, hemorrhage, and hypertension. According to the data, precardiac disease has now taken the 2nd to 4th place in the causes of infant mortality.  Precocious heart disease is mostly caused by genetic, environmental and certain drugs taken during pregnancy. With timely diagnosis and early surgical treatment, most of them can be cured and can live and work like normal people after surgery. However, many children with precocious heart disease delay seeking medical attention for various reasons, so that the condition has reached an advanced stage, or completely lost the opportunity to operate, or complicate the cardiopulmonary insufficiency, making the operation more difficult and risky, thus also multiplying the cost of treatment.  As for the age at which surgery is most appropriate, Gao Ji-ping believes that the decision should be based on the type of precocious heart disease and the early and late appearance of symptoms. If the condition requires, such as heavy deformity, early symptoms, recurrent heart failure, endocarditis, life-threatening, regardless of age, according to the situation as early as possible surgery. Gao Jiping reminded parents of children with precocious heart disease that they should take their children to the hospital as early as possible for examination to clarify the nature and extent of the heart malformation, and let the specialist decide on the appropriate age for surgery, rather than holding the idea of “waiting until they are older” to avoid delaying the condition.