If a child with congenital heart disease is not treated promptly, it will cause severe heart failure and possibly sudden death.
In Vietnam, on average, more than 1.5 million children are born each year, of which about 10,000-12,000 have congenital heart disease. In the world, each year about 1-1.5 million children are born with congenital malformations. About 1/4 of children with heart defects need surgery within the first year after birth, and 4.2% of newborn deaths are due to congenital heart defects.
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| If a child with congenital heart disease is not treated promptly, it will cause severe heart failure and possibly sudden death. |
Recently, Tam Anh General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City received a 12-year-old patient with severe congenital cyanotic heart disease, accompanied by heart failure, reduced ejection fraction, heart function of only 10%, and high risk of death.
Doctor Pham Thuc Minh Thuy, Department of Congenital Heart Disease, Cardiovascular Center, Tam Anh General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, explains that congenital cyanotic heart disease occurs when less blood flows through the heart and lungs, causing poorly oxygenated blood to be pumped out of the body. This condition causes the child's skin to turn purple.
Three months ago, Toan was hospitalized with severely reduced heart function. Echocardiogram results showed left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was only 10% (normally at least 50%), with severe purple skin and mucous membranes.
The blood oxygen saturation index (SpO2) was 60% while the normal range was 98-100%, meaning that the ability to supply oxygen to the brain and organs was severely reduced. The child could only sit in one place, breathing laboriously and with cyanosis, unable to do basic tasks such as eating, walking, bathing, etc. When he went to the doctor, Toan had to use a wheelchair.
According to Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Nguyen Vinh, Director of the Cardiovascular Center, the child had severe congenital cyanotic heart disease leading to chronic prolonged hypoxia affecting the heart muscle, reducing ejection fraction, causing heart failure on the basis of pulmonary valve stenosis (a congenital defect that interrupts blood flow to the lungs).
“In more than 50 years of working in the medical industry, I have never encountered a case of congenital cyanosis with impaired heart function like this,” Associate Professor Vinh said.
The boy's father said that his son had a heart disease for a long time, and was only treated with internal medicine and monitored outside the hospital. For about 6 months now, the disease has progressed so badly that Toan had to drop out of school. His heart function is very poor, and he has severe heart failure, and cannot undergo intervention or surgery.
Doctor Thuy still cannot forget the image of the father pushing a wheelchair to bring Toan to the clinic. The boy just sat in one place, breathing heavily and purple, unable to do basic things like eating, walking, bathing, etc. to take care of himself. This is a medical condition that when described, no one would think that they were talking about a 12-year-old boy.
Doctors consulted international medical literature to determine the cause of the baby’s severe heart failure, then consulted and decided to perform a cardiac catheterization to treat the heart failure. Toan was given medication and prepared to perform the procedure to help his heart recover.
The team performed angioplasty to dilate the collateral circulation (superficial veins emerge and develop branches under the abdominal skin) with a 50% success rate.
After a 60-minute surgery, the doctor successfully placed a 7mm stent into the aortopulmonary collateral blood vessel. The patient did not have pulmonary edema or heart failure. After treatment, heart function gradually increased to 60%, almost reaching the level of a normal child.
A recent re-examination showed that the baby's health was stable, he could walk on his own, returned to school, and recently went on a trip with his family to Ba Den Mountain (Tay Ninh). This was a result that the doctors could not have expected.
“This patient has made a spectacular and surprisingly fast recovery. Once his heart function is restored, he will undergo surgery to repair the heart defect, and will then need lifelong monitoring and regular check-ups as scheduled by his doctor,” Dr. Thuy added.
Source: https://baodautu.vn/nguy-co-tu-vong-cua-tre-mac-tim-bam-sinh-d222739.html
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