Ventricular Septal Defect

Question: i want to know how the future holds for a child with down syndrome and ventricular septal defect ? I got a daughther who has down syndrome with vsd(ventricular septal defect).She is 5 years old april 23,2006.Her weight is only 13 KG.She has a very high problem of breathing specially at night.The thing that I wanted to be clear is what I possibly expect in the future.I am for example worried about her weight.She looks like a 2 years old.

Answer: Many children with Down's Syndrome have heart problems and ventricular septal defect is one of the commonest heart defects in all children. Often the hole will close on its own but as your daughter is five this obviously hasn't happened. If a child with this problem is not putting on weight they can be given high calorie food and feed through a nasal gastric tube. This defect can be operated on. Has this been suggested? Success rates are as high as 99% in some hospitals.

Question: What are the vital signs for a ventricular septal defect? What are some of the vital signs (i.e., blood pressure...) that come along with a ventricular septal defect? Thanks

Answer: to answer this question i would need to know the child's age. the only vital sign that can be not "normal" would;d be his oxygen saturation's. most people are 97-100% and children with VSD can have sats go as low as the mid 70% its their "normal" because of the hole in their heart they are able to have un oxygenated blood move in to the left ventricle and go to the rest of the body. i hope i explained this okay if you have any questions email at liljy72@hotmail.com I am a cardiac ICU nurse at my local children's hospital

Question: What are the things you have to avoid when diagnosed with ventricular septal defect? Is there any food you can't eat or things you have to refrain from doing?

Answer: A small VSD usually closes spontaneously and a restriction of activity may not be needed. With a large VSD associated with increased pulmonary hypertension activities may have to be limited. It all depends on the degree of the defect as diagnosed by a cardiologist.

Question: Can a person suffering from ventricular septal defect donate blood?

Answer: If its small, you can If it is a large one and you are close to failure, youi can't Ask your doctor first!

Question: Which hospital would take a 5 1/2 year old girl for surgery to close a large ventricular septal defect? Large Perimembrenous VSD 7mm wide with dominant left to right shunt, biventricular enlargment. Intact atrial septum, increased pulmonary pressure with mild tricuspid regurgitation The little girl in question is from a family that I be-friended whilst working in Sudan, This operation is not available in Sudan. The basic questions I need answerd are: The names of hospitals that carry out this type of operations and an indication of its cost as it will be privately done

Answer: There are several in the US and some have programs to bring over needy foreign children for surgery. The only one I am familiar with is LeBonheur Children's Medical in Memphis, but any pediatric hospital in the US can perform the surgery.

Question: Anyone have a baby born with Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) ? How did you handle this and? was medication successful or did they have to have surgery to correct the problem?

Answer: My 6 month old son was born with Pulmonary Artresia with VSD,he has had 2surgery's so far,his first of many open heart surgery's start around 8 to 12 months,as for your baby i am not sure how meds work but handling it is very hard,keep friends and family close and believe and have faith in your cardiologists and surgeons,they are wonderful! Good luck!

Question: Does a Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) disqualify me from a police officer medial exam? I'm interested in applying to be a police officer, but have some doubts about the medial. I have a Ventricular Septal Defect in my heart and worry that I'll run through the entire process in becoming an officer and be disqualified at the end (they hold the medical toward the end) due to my condition. Does anyone know if this is antomatic disqualification of the medical? Has anyone experienced this before? I have nothing to loss by applying, but I'd rather have an idea before I start asking for days/time off at work. Any insight would greatly be appreciated. Thanks to all in advance. I haven't experienced any symptoms. I cardiologist has advised me in the past that as long as I keep a healthy life, I should live a normal life without any immediate complications.

Answer: ---Has the defect been surgically corrected? If it has been corrected and a doctor says it wont effect your work and you pass the physical test and exams then it shouldn't stop you. ---HOWEVER, in reading up on this it sounds like if not corrected or if not corrected early in life you would suffer these symptoms that would keep you out: -------> "When a ventricular septal defect is not detected early in life, it can cause more severe problems and more severe symptoms as time goes on. The biggest concern is development of high pressure in the lungs (pulmonary hypertension). If the ventricular septal defect is not surgically closed, irreversible pulmonary hypertension can develop, and the child is no longer operable and has a poor prognosis. The following are typical symptoms of pulmonary hypertension:" "Fainting Shortness of breath Chest pain Bluish discoloration of the skin (cyanosis) and hypoxia" ---Any one of these would prevent you from entering police work. ---So I guess it depends on whether you had the problem corrected and what symptom, if any, you have. And, what the doctor says about it all after reviewing your case.

Question: can ventricular septal defect cause diastolic murmur? i know it causes systolic murmur.? why PDA does not occur in right branch of pulmonary artery?

Answer: A ventricular septal defect is one or more openings in the interventricular septum, producing a shunt between ventricles. Large defects result in a significant left-to-right shunt and produce dyspnea with feeding and poor growth. A loud, harsh, holosystolic murmur at the lower left sternal border is common. Recurrent respiratory infections and heart failure may develop. Diagnosis is by echocardiography. Defects may close spontaneously during infancy or require surgical repair. Endocarditis prophylaxis is recommended. Small VSDs typically produce a grade 3 to 4/6 holosystolic murmur (with or without thrill) at the lower left sternal border; it is audible shortly after birth. The precordium may be mildly hyperactive, but S2 is normally split and has normal intensity. Larger VSDs produce a similarly loud holosystolic murmur that is present by age 2 to 3 wk. S2 is usually narrowly split with an accentuated pulmonary component. An apical diastolic rumble (due to overflow through the mitral valve) and findings of HF (eg, tachypnea, dyspnea with feeding, gallop, crackles, hepatomegaly) may be present. Increased RV flow in atrial septal defect also abolishes the normal respiratory variation in aortic and pulmonic valve closure, producing a fixed split S2. Left-to-right shunts with normal RV volume flow (eg, in membranous ventricular septal defects) do not cause fixed splitting. Aorta passes closely over the left pulmonary artery. Ductus arteriosus connects both these arteries even before the birth in order to protect lungs against circulatory overload and allows the right ventricle to strengthen.

Question: how to manage caries in a patient with ventricular septal defect?

Answer: Routine pre-operative antibiotics per AHA recommendations. The patient is probably a child, so use weight-adjusted dosage. Consult with the cardiologist in areas of doubt.

Question: What is ventricular septal defect? Thank you, I heard of it and I wanted to know what it was

Answer: ahhh i did a project on this its where you have a whole in your heart...they can fix it with surgery. they put a patch over the whole and the lining of your heart grows over it and it becomes part of your heart =]] http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.j… ^ if you need more info they thought my [4 day old] baby brother had this before he was born...he doesnt.