Congenital heart disease is a condition where a baby is born with a heart defect.
This may have been made known whilst the baby is in the womb, from prenatal ultrasound diagnoses. These infants will receive immediate attention from our doctors at birth. For other children, it may be picked up after birth during the routine newborn physical examination. A common early sign is a heart murmur (an additional sound heard via stethoscope) identified in the nursery or during a check-up around one month of age.
There are a variety of congenital heart conditions, including incorrect connections of major blood vessels emerging from the heart, abnormal openings (shunts) between different heart chambers and obstructions (stenosis) in normal blood pathways.
Signs & Symptoms
Newborns with congenital heart conditions might exhibit symptoms shortly after birth, such as cyanosis (blueness) around the lips due to inadequate blood oxygenation or poor heart function. Some infants may initially appear healthy but are later diagnosed during routine physical examinations.
What Causes the Condition
Congenital heart conditions stem from abnormal development of the heart's structure during foetal development in the womb.
Diagnosis and Treatment Options
If the condition was prenatally diagnosed, the baby will be examined and attended to by our doctors immediately after birth and referred to a paediatric cardiologist after stabilisation. Diagnostic procedures include echocardiography (heart ultrasound), various blood tests and a chest X-ray.
Serious conditions may require specific medications, respiratory support and urgent referral to cardiothoracic surgeons. For other cases, once diagnosis is confirmed via 2D echocardiography, the infant may be discharged with a follow-up appointment, with or without oral medication.
Post Op Care
Should surgery be required, postoperative care for the infant will be provided in the Paediatric Intensive Care or Neonatal Intensive Care units.
