What do you know about pediatric congenital heart disease

Pediatric congenital heart disease (referred to as congenital heart disease) is a congenital malformation formed as a result of abnormal development of the heart blood vessels during the fetal period, and is the most common heart disease in children. It occurs mostly due to the abnormal development of the fetal heart during the first trimester of pregnancy due to viral infections, radioactive radiation, the effects of certain medications, lack of nutrition, and certain hereditary factors, resulting in pediatric congenital heart disease. Common congenital heart diseases include atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect, tetralogy of Fallot, patent ductus arteriosus, and pulmonary valve stenosis. With the development of medical science, many congenital heart diseases can be treated with early surgery. Therefore, early detection of suspicious symptoms is the key, in order to timely examination, clear diagnosis, and take the necessary measures. The following symptoms should be noticed: 1. Low crying and hoarse voice of the baby. 2. 2. Shortness of breath and weak breastfeeding. 3.Small appetite, poor growth and development. 4, pale, irritable, sweaty, purple lips around after strenuous activities or crying. 5. Weak resistance, easy to suffer from colds, bronchitis and pneumonia, and not easy to recover from the disease. In recent years, the domestic diagnostic technology and surgical technology of congenital heart disease has developed rapidly, and the success rate of most pediatric congenital heart disease through surgical correction has reached more than 95%. However, some children due to parental negligence, delay in seeking medical treatment, so that the condition has reached an advanced stage, or lost the opportunity for surgery, or complications of cardiopulmonary insufficiency, increasing the risk of surgery. In this regard, we remind parents: 1, as soon as possible to take their children to the hospital for examination, to clarify the nature and degree of cardiac malformation, to determine the appropriate age for surgery, so as to avoid delaying the condition by holding the idea of “waiting for a little bit bigger”. 2, for children with heart murmurs but not with heart defects, it is necessary to seek medical treatment. 2, for the heart murmur but asymptomatic children, should not be negligent, should be regular physical examination, including chest X-ray, electrocardiogram, in order to understand the changes of the murmur and cardiopulmonary load. Consider surgery if necessary to prevent complications such as endocarditis. 3. For children who need to wait for surgery due to age or other factors, it is important to prevent colds, cultivate the habit of brushing teeth, and maintain oral hygiene. Tooth decay and tonsillitis should be actively treated. If there is prolonged fever that does not go away, please consult the doctor as soon as possible and avoid strenuous physical activities, so as not to aggravate the burden on the heart and lungs. In cooperation with the doctor active treatment at the same time, the parents of the attentive care is also very important, congenital heart disease children in the family care should pay attention to the following aspects: 1, try to let the child to keep quiet, as far as possible, do not make the child cry, to avoid the child emotional excitement, to reduce unnecessary stimuli. Older children should live a regular life, the combination of static and dynamic, neither can run around outside (strictly prohibit running and jumping and strenuous exercise), so as not to aggravate the burden on the heart. At the same time to ensure adequate sleep. 2, cardiac insufficiency children tend to sweat more, need to keep the skin clean, summer bath diligently, winter with a hot towel to wipe the body (pay attention to keep warm), change clothes and pants. Feed more water to ensure enough water. 3, the child should eat small meals, need to ensure enough protein and vitamin intake, give the diet as diverse as possible, easy to digest. Infants with congenital heart disease, feeding is more difficult, often easy to suck milk shortness of breath and stop sucking, and easy to vomit and sweat a lot, so feeding can be used to drip into the dropper, in order to reduce the physical exertion of the child. 4, keep the stool can be smooth, if the stool is dry, defecation is difficult, excessive force will increase the abdominal pressure, aggravate the burden on the heart, and may even have serious consequences. If there is no bowel movement for 2 to 3 days, use corkscrew to pass stools. 5, indoor air circulation, children try to avoid going to crowded public places to reduce the chance of respiratory infections. Clothes should be increased or decreased in time with the weather, and close attention should be paid to prevent colds. 6, congenital heart disease of the child’s physical weakness, easy to infected diseases, especially respiratory diseases are common, so should be careful care, with the change of seasons, and into the increase or decrease in clothing. If there is a family member with upper respiratory tract infection, isolation measures should be taken, and the child should be taken to public places as little as possible. Once the child is infected, the infection should be actively controlled. 7.Regularly go to the hospital outpatient follow-up, strictly follow the doctor’s instructions to take medication, especially cardiotonic, diuretic drugs, due to its pharmacological properties, must be absolute control of the dose, on time, according to the course of treatment to ensure the efficacy of the treatment. 8, the surgical treatment of children with congenital heart disease, 3 months after surgery to strengthen the care. Pay attention to diet and nutrition; keep warm and prevent from catching cold. Comfort and encourage the children, in order to prevent the burden of thought; at the same time, pay attention to the children’s sleep, rest, so that they can successfully go through the postoperative recovery period.