How to determine whether a newborn has heart disease

The biggest expectation of a newlywed couple after marriage is to have a healthy baby, because children are the bond that maintains the beauty of the family. However, many things go against one's wishes. Some families give birth to babies with congenital diseases, such as congenital heart disease. So how do you determine whether a newborn has heart disease? Let us learn about it together so that more parents can learn the following methods, so that if such bad things happen to them, they can take corresponding measures in time.

There are many neonatal diseases, one of the more common ones is congenital heart disease. However, how to distinguish congenital heart disease from other diseases requires some medical history investigation and physical examination to determine. New mothers also need to keep calm and not be too emotional, which can have a bad effect on their health.

Determining whether a person has congenital heart disease can be based on a comprehensive assessment of medical history, symptoms, signs, and some special examinations.

1. Medical history

(1) The mother’s pregnancy history: whether there was any viral infection, radiation exposure, medication history, diabetes history, nutritional disorders, exposure to special environments and genetic factors within the first three months of pregnancy.

(2) Common symptoms: Patients with congenital heart disease often have decreased mobility, rapid breathing, developmental delay, cyanosis, squatting, clubbing of fingers (toes), polycythemia, chest pain, heart failure, syncope, etc. Children may also have recurrent or persistent upper respiratory tract infections, pale complexion, low crying, groaning, hoarseness, sweating, etc. The above symptoms indicate the possibility of congenital heart disease.

(3) Developmental status: Children with congenital heart disease are often malnourished, thin, have poor weight gain, and have delayed development.

2. Physical examination

If physical examination reveals typical organic heart murmurs, dull heart sounds, enlarged heart, arrhythmias, and enlarged liver, further examination should be conducted to rule out congenital heart disease.

3. Special inspection

(1) X-ray examination: There may be an increase or decrease in lung texture and an enlarged heart. However, normal lung texture and normal heart size do not rule out congenital heart disease.

(2) Ultrasound examination: It measures the shape and size of each heart chamber, the regurgitation of the heart valves, and the development of large blood vessels to diagnose anatomical abnormalities of the heart and their severity. It is currently one of the most commonly used methods for diagnosing congenital heart disease.

(3) Electrocardiogram: It can reflect whether there is hypertrophy of the atria and ventricles and the condition of the cardiac conduction system.

(4) Right heart catheter examination: When a patient has severe pulmonary hypertension, a right heart catheter examination is required to determine the direction and amount of the shunt and calculate the pulmonary resistance, thereby determining whether surgery is indicated. In addition, testing the pulmonary artery's response to vasodilators, such as oxygen uptake tests, is an important basis for determining surgical indications.

(5) Cardiac catheterization and cardiovascular angiography: For patients with multiple malformations or those who seek medical treatment late, this examination is necessary to determine the indications for surgery.

Based on the above medical history, physical examination and positive signs obtained from special examinations, and comprehensive analysis and judgment, congenital heart disease can basically be diagnosed.

Always believe that God is fair. Don't worry if your baby is born with congenital heart disease, because you will be compensated in other places. Many people think that it is not important to know how to judge whether a newborn has heart disease. This understanding is obviously a big misunderstanding, because babies with congenital heart disease will have psychological trauma when they grow up. Therefore, it is important for parents to guide them from an early age. Congenital heart disease can be alleviated through slow treatment.