Congenital Heart Defects - Treatment - Treatment
Treatment will depend on which type of congenital heart defect you have. Treatments for congenital heart defects include medicines, surgery, and cardiac catheterization procedures. Many congenital heart defects do not require treatment at all. However, children with critical congenital heart defects will need surgery in the first year of life. Some people with congenital heart defects may need treatment, including repeated surgery, throughout their lives. All people with congenital heart defects should be followed by a cardiologist, a doctor who specializes in the heart, throughout their whole life.
Medicines
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Congenital Heart Defects - Treatment
Your child's doctor may prescribe medicines to help close patent ductus arteriosus in premature infants.
- Indomethacin or ibuprofen triggers the patent ductus arteriosus to constrict or tighten, which closes the opening.
- Acetaminophen is sometimes used to close patent ductus arteriosus.
Procedures
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Congenital Heart Defects - Treatment
Cardiac catheterization is a common procedure that is sometimes used to repair simple heart defects, such as atrial septal defect and patent ductus arteriosus, if they do not repair themselves. It may also be used to open up valves or blood vessels that are narrowed or have stenosis.
In this procedure, a thin, flexible tube called a catheter is put into a vein in the groin or neck. The tube is threaded to the heart. Possible complications include bleeding, infection, and pain at the catheter insertion site and damage to blood vessels.
Surgery
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Congenital Heart Defects - Treatment
In heart surgery, a cardiac surgeon opens the chest to work directly on the heart.
Surgery may be done for these reasons:
- To repair a hole in the heart, such as a ventricular septal defect or an atrial septal defect.
- To repair a patent ductus arteriosus.
- To repair complex defects, such as problems with the location of blood vessels near the heart or how they are formed.
- To repair or replace a valve.
- To widen narrowed blood vessels.
Surgeries that are sometimes needed to treat congenital heart defects include:
- Heart transplant. Children may receive a heart transplant if they have a complex congenital heart defect that cannot be repaired surgically or if the heart fails after surgery. Children may also receive a heart transplant if they are dependent on a ventilator or have severe symptoms of heart failure. Some adults with congenital heart defects may eventually need a heart transplant.
- Palliative surgery. Some babies with only one ventricle are too weak or too small to have heart surgery. They must have palliative surgery, or temporary surgery, first to improve oxygen levels in the blood. In this surgery, the surgeon installs a shunt, a tube that creates an additional pathway for blood to travel to the lungs to get oxygen. The surgeon removes the shunt when the baby’s heart defects are fixed during the full repair.
- Ventricular assist device. For people with heart failure from a congenital heart defect, this device supports the heart until a transplant occurs. These devices can be difficult to use in people who have congenital heart defects because of the heart’s abnormal structure.
- Total artificial heart. For some people with complex congenital heart defects, a total artificial heart may be needed instead of a ventricular assist device.
Look for
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Congenital Heart Defects - Treatment
- Living With will discuss what your doctor may recommend including lifelong lifestyle changes and medical care to prevent your condition from recurring, getting worse, or causing complications.
- Research for Your Health will explain how we are using current research and advancing research to treat people with congenital heart defects.
- Participate in NHLBI Clinical Trials will discuss our ongoing clinical studies that are investigating treatments for congenital heart defects.