Causes of small holes in the heart of newborns

After every newborn is born, regular physical examinations are required, especially for babies a few days after birth. It will be found that the newborn has small holes in the heart. The appearance of these small holes can also cause parents and friends to worry and not know what harm this phenomenon will bring to the child. Let us learn about it below.

This is a congenital heart disease. There are different types of congenital heart disease according to the location of the "hole". Generally, atrial septal defect and ventricular septal defect are the most common. The cause of its occurrence is still unclear. The internal factors are mainly related to genetics. The more important external factors are intrauterine infection, especially viral infections such as rubella and influenza in the early pregnancy. Drugs such as anticancer drugs and anti-epileptic drugs are also one of the reasons. Some cold medicines and antiviral drugs also have the risk of teratogenicity. Therefore, drugs should be used with caution during pregnancy, especially in the early pregnancy.

Whether the child's "hole" will heal on its own depends mainly on the location and size of the hole, the shunt volume, the pulmonary artery pressure level, etc. Generally speaking, atrial septal defects smaller than 3mm will close naturally within 3 months, while atrial septal defects larger than 8mm are less likely to close naturally. Those with larger shunt volumes require surgery or interventional cardiac catheterization treatment. Ventricular septal defects may also close naturally within 5 years of age, but after 5 years of age, the possibility of natural closure is very small. Therefore, small and medium-sized defects can be followed up in the outpatient clinic until the preschool period, while large and medium-sized defects and those with a continuous increase in pulmonary artery pressure to a certain standard should be treated early.

During the observation period, you should follow the doctor's instructions: pay attention to preventing respiratory infections, go to the hospital for treatment in time if you have symptoms such as a cold, and regularly check your heart with color Doppler ultrasound to understand your heart condition. If necessary, go to an authoritative pediatric heart disease hospital for treatment to avoid missing the best time for surgery.

From the above article, we learned that newborns have small holes in their hearts. This is mostly due to a major cause that may cause serious diseases, coupled with congenital heart maldevelopment. When encountering such a phenomenon, parents should actively treat their children.