How to detect and diagnose precocious heart disease early
Precocious heart disease is the most important birth defect of newborns in China and the first cause of death in children under 5 years old. Winter is also a high-risk season for precocious heart disease, so it is crucial to detect and diagnose precocious heart disease early to avoid unexpected events. Due to the parents’ ignorance of their children’s disease or ignorance of the knowledge of precocious heart disease treatment, many children miss the best time for treatment.
In fact, with the rapid development of modern medicine, the treatment time for children with congenital heart disease can no longer be determined by age. Especially for those children with complex heart malformations or serious lesions that require surgery, long delays may lose the chance of surgical cure. Even if the heart malformation can be surgically corrected later, the damaged heart and lung tissue function is difficult to recover.
At present, because of the lack of effective prevention methods for precardiac disease, early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment are the keys to reduce the death of children.
For early detection of precardiac disease, we believe that attention should be paid from the fetal stage. There are many complex factors that lead to malformations in fetal heart development.
However, the following factors should be noted if they are present.
One, genetic factors, such as in families with a genetic history of precardiac disease, it is not uncommon for siblings to suffer from precardiac disease at the same time, and the nature of the disease is very similar. If the first child born to a mother suffering from precocious heart disease, the possibility of the second child suffering from the disease is about 2%; if the mother suffers from precocious heart disease, the risk of the second generation suffering from precocious heart disease is 10%.
Second, the medical history of pregnant women, such as pregnant women suffering from diabetes without treatment and control of the disease, can lead to fetal heart disease risk of 2%, if the disease is controlled and stable in early pregnancy, the risk is reduced.
Third, pregnancy medication, if pregnant women in early pregnancy exposure to teratogenic drugs, such as lithium, phenytoin sodium or steroids, etc., may lead to the prevalence of fetal precocious heart disease to 2%.
Radioactive material exposure, such as excessive exposure to radioactive material such as X-rays, isotopes, etc. in early pregnancy.
Viral infections, such as rubella, mumps, influenza, herpes and other viral infections in the first three months of pregnancy, especially from 3 weeks to 8 weeks, may lead to abnormal fetal heart development.
Sixth, bad habits, such as drug addiction, smoking, etc. can increase the incidence of precocious heart disease, and conception after alcohol is also prone to fetal chromosomal abnormalities, most of which are accompanied by cardiovascular abnormalities. In addition, consanguineous marriage is also a high risk factor for fetal malformation.
If attention is paid from the fetal stage, echocardiography can be used to detect fetal heart malformations at 20 to 28 weeks of gestation, which is crucial for eugenics.
Secondly, children born with precocious heart disease may generally behave “normally” and have no abnormal findings on examination by the doctor, but are only discovered by chance later during physical examinations or when they have other diseases.
In fact, parents should be alerted to the possibility of precocious heart disease if they notice the following signs in their child.
I. The child’s development is significantly slower than children of the same age, with slow weight gain, a thin body shape, and easy sweating.
2. Pale face, shortness of breath, breath-holding, often choking and coughing when feeding, refusing to eat, often stopping to eat, etc.
Third, the child’s resistance is poor, often cold, recurrent bronchitis, pneumonia, etc., the condition of the more serious can appear wheezing, hoarseness, etc., and the conventional treatment with anti-cold medicine is not easy to improve.
Fourth, the child often complains of easy fatigue, poor stamina and strength, and often takes the initiative to squat and rest when walking or playing.
The skin is continuously cyanotic, most obvious at the tip of the nose, mouth and lips, fingers and toes, and nail bed, and thickened and darkened at the end of the fingers and toes in older children.
Sixth, heart murmurs are found on physical examination.
Regardless of the manifestation, once the abnormality appears, you should go to the hospital to receive detailed examination, including chest X-ray, electrocardiogram, echocardiogram and other auxiliary examinations, and if necessary, further cardiovascular imaging, cardiac catheterization and so on. This is the only way to make a clear diagnosis. It is crucial to determine the timing and mode of surgery as early as possible.
Heart surgery has both risks and great promise. Experts say that all kinds of precardiac disease can be effectively treated, the overall success rate is more than 95%, the vast majority of children with precardiac disease can be cured after treatment, the future growth and development, life and work without any impact, can completely reach the level of normal people. As for whether to do the surgery and when to do it, parents must follow the doctor’s advice.