children s health issues
Atrial and Ventricular Septal Defects
Symptoms of Atrial and Ventricular Septal Defects
Infants and children with atrial septal defects usually have no symptoms. Once in a while, a child with an atrial septal defect gains weight more slowly than average. However, in early adulthood or middle age, atrial septal defects that are untreated, particularly those that are large, can lead to exercise intolerance, fatigue, palpitations, heart rhythm problems ( Atrial Fibrillation and Atrial Flutter or Ventricular septal defects can vary from small holes, which may cause a heart murmur but no symptoms, to larger holes that cause symptoms early in life. Symptoms due to larger ventricular septal defects usually develop when a infant is between 4 and 8 weeks of age and include rapid breathing, difficulty feeding, sweating while eating, and slow weight gain. These symptoms suggest the child is developing heart failure (see figure). If untreated, children with larger defects may also have recurrent lung infections and increased pressure in the lung blood vessels (pulmonary hypertension) that will eventually become permanent, leading to numerous complications and a shortened life span. Sometimes, a ventricular septal defect is close enough to the aortic valve that it affects the valve. The affected aortic valve may start to leak (called Aortic Regurgitation ). With aortic regurgitation, some blood that was pumped out flows back into the heart. Aortic regurgitation can cause heart failure if not treated. Even a relatively small ventricular septal defect should be closed if it is associated with increasing the aortic regurgitation. 