How is congenital heart disease diagnosed?
As part of the campaign to help children with heart disease, we continue a series of publications on the topics: What is congenital heart disease (congenital heart disease)? What variants of the Air Force exist or the Air Force classification? What is endovascular treatment (surgery)? And also stories of children with heart defects who will be helped within the action. Today, we will tell you how to diagnose congenital heart disease?
Severe congenital heart disease is usually detected during pregnancy or immediately after birth. Less serious defects are not recognized until the child grows up and existing circulatory disorders do not affect the activities of the rapidly growing child’s body. Small defects usually do not manifest themselves clinically and are detected by a pediatric cardiologist during a preventive examination or during research on other pathologies. Proper diagnosis of the Air Force is based on the principle of phased use of different diagnostic procedures.
Doctors specializing in pediatric cardiology.
Neonatologists (pediatricians treating newborns), district pediatricians, pediatric ultrasound diagnosticians, pediatric cardiologists, and cardiovascular surgeons specializing in pediatric cardiac surgery are among the most common physicians.
Physical examination.
During the examination, the pediatrician or pediatric cardiologist performs auscultation (listening) of the heart and lungs with a stethoscope, identifies possible signs of heart defects, such as cyanosis, shortness of breath, shortness of breath, growth and development disorders, both physical and mental, or symptoms of heart failure. . Based on the results of such an examination, the doctor decides on the need for further examination and the use of various instrumental diagnostic methods.
Methods of diagnosis of congenital heart disease.
Echocardiogram (EchoCG).
This method of research is absolutely safe and painless, it uses the diagnostic capabilities of ultrasonic waves. When performing echocardiography, the reflected ultrasound waves allow you to study the structure of the child’s heart and recreate the picture of the structure of the heart. Echocardiography can be used both during pregnancy and after childbirth and is a very informative method of diagnosis to assess how the heart is formed at a certain stage of development, as well as how it functions.
With the help of echocardiography, a pediatric cardiologist can determine which treatment option is needed for each individual child.
During pregnancy, if a doctor suspects a congenital malformation, it is possible to perform echocardiography of the embryo or fetus. Echocardiography allows you to recreate the picture and structure of the heart of the child in the womb and when cardiac pathology is detected long before birth to plan further pregnancy and the amount of medical care that may be required after birth.
Electrocardiogram (ECG).
Electrocardiography determines and records the electrical activity of the heart, shows how stable the heart rate, whether there is an arrhythmia. The ECG can also detect indirect signs of enlarged heart chambers, which may indicate the presence of congenital heart disease in a child.
Chest x-ray.
Chest X-ray is an X-ray of the heart and lungs. With the help of chest X-rays, you can determine the size of the heart, the ratio of heart and chest size, identify signs of enlargement of individual chambers of the heart, as well as accumulation of fluid in the lungs or pleural sinuses (space between the pleura covering the lungs and chest inside).
Pulse oximetry.
Pulse oximetry is a diagnostic method that determines how saturated the blood is with oxygen. The pulse oximeter sensor is placed on the tip of the finger or toe and a special computerized reader determines the oxygen content in the erythrocyte.
Cardiac probing or coronary angiography.
During cardiac probing, a catheter is inserted into the lumen of a vein or artery in the arm, groin (upper thigh) or neck (vein access only), the tip of which reaches the heart cavities and is placed there for the duration of the study. According to it, an X-ray contrast agent is injected into the lumen of the heart cavity, completely filling the entire volume of the heart chamber and contrasting its walls. Because this contrast agent is more commonly used as a solution, it is able to move in the cavities of the heart along with blood flow, which is quite visible when performing cardiac probing. In congenital heart disease during cardiac probing, blood circulation disorders between the atria and ventricles, as well as between large vessels - the aorta and pulmonary artery - are clearly visible.
During cardiac probing in the Air Force, it is also possible to measure the pressure in the cavities of the heart or the lumen of a large blood vessel. An increase in this pressure may indicate the presence of an obstruction to blood flow, a decrease in pressure below normal figures implies the failure of the valve. In addition, a catheter can be used to take a blood sample from the lumen of the chamber and compare with normal values, which can be judged on the likelihood of mixing arterial and venous blood, ie the presence of pathological communication between the chambers of the heart.
Severe congenital heart disease is usually detected during pregnancy or immediately after birth. Less serious defects are not recognized until the child grows up and existing circulatory disorders do not affect the activities of the rapidly growing child’s body. Small defects usually do not manifest themselves clinically and are detected by a pediatric cardiologist during a preventive examination or during research on other pathologies. Proper diagnosis of the Air Force is based on the principle of phased use of different diagnostic procedures.
Doctors specializing in pediatric cardiology.
Neonatologists (pediatricians treating newborns), district pediatricians, pediatric ultrasound diagnosticians, pediatric cardiologists, and cardiovascular surgeons specializing in pediatric cardiac surgery are among the most common physicians.
Physical examination.
During the examination, the pediatrician or pediatric cardiologist performs auscultation (listening) of the heart and lungs with a stethoscope, identifies possible signs of heart defects, such as cyanosis, shortness of breath, shortness of breath, growth and development disorders, both physical and mental, or symptoms of heart failure. . Based on the results of such an examination, the doctor decides on the need for further examination and the use of various instrumental diagnostic methods.
Methods of diagnosis of congenital heart disease.
Echocardiogram (EchoCG).
This method of research is absolutely safe and painless, it uses the diagnostic capabilities of ultrasonic waves. When performing echocardiography, the reflected ultrasound waves allow you to study the structure of the child’s heart and recreate the picture of the structure of the heart. Echocardiography can be used both during pregnancy and after childbirth and is a very informative method of diagnosis to assess how the heart is formed at a certain stage of development, as well as how it functions.
With the help of echocardiography, a pediatric cardiologist can determine which treatment option is needed for each individual child.
During pregnancy, if a doctor suspects a congenital malformation, it is possible to perform echocardiography of the embryo or fetus. Echocardiography allows you to recreate the picture and structure of the heart of the child in the womb and when cardiac pathology is detected long before birth to plan further pregnancy and the amount of medical care that may be required after birth.
Electrocardiogram (ECG).
Electrocardiography determines and records the electrical activity of the heart, shows how stable the heart rate, whether there is an arrhythmia. The ECG can also detect indirect signs of enlarged heart chambers, which may indicate the presence of congenital heart disease in a child.
Chest x-ray.
Chest X-ray is an X-ray of the heart and lungs. With the help of chest X-rays, you can determine the size of the heart, the ratio of heart and chest size, identify signs of enlargement of individual chambers of the heart, as well as accumulation of fluid in the lungs or pleural sinuses (space between the pleura covering the lungs and chest inside).
Pulse oximetry.
Pulse oximetry is a diagnostic method that determines how saturated the blood is with oxygen. The pulse oximeter sensor is placed on the tip of the finger or toe and a special computerized reader determines the oxygen content in the erythrocyte.
Cardiac probing or coronary angiography.
During cardiac probing, a catheter is inserted into the lumen of a vein or artery in the arm, groin (upper thigh) or neck (vein access only), the tip of which reaches the heart cavities and is placed there for the duration of the study. According to it, an X-ray contrast agent is injected into the lumen of the heart cavity, completely filling the entire volume of the heart chamber and contrasting its walls. Because this contrast agent is more commonly used as a solution, it is able to move in the cavities of the heart along with blood flow, which is quite visible when performing cardiac probing. In congenital heart disease during cardiac probing, blood circulation disorders between the atria and ventricles, as well as between large vessels - the aorta and pulmonary artery - are clearly visible.
During cardiac probing in the Air Force, it is also possible to measure the pressure in the cavities of the heart or the lumen of a large blood vessel. An increase in this pressure may indicate the presence of an obstruction to blood flow, a decrease in pressure below normal figures implies the failure of the valve. In addition, a catheter can be used to take a blood sample from the lumen of the chamber and compare with normal values, which can be judged on the likelihood of mixing arterial and venous blood, ie the presence of pathological communication between the chambers of the heart.