Ventricular septal defect

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Heart, section through the middle

Heart, front view

Ventricular septal defect

Overview

Symptoms

Treatment

Prevention

Ventricular septal defect

Alternative Names:

VSD; Interventricular septal defect

Treatment:

In mild cases, no treatment is needed, although the baby should be closely followed to ensure that the hole closes properly as the child grows. With congestive heart failure, medications, such as digitalis (digoxin) and diuretics, may be prescribed to control symptoms.

If symptoms continue despite medication, surgery to close the defect with a Gore-tex patch is needed. Some VSDs can be closed with a special device during a catheterization. Treating a VSD that does not have symptoms is controversial, and should be carefully discussed with your health care provider.

Expectations (prognosis):

Many small defects will close on their own. For those defects that do not spontaneously close, the outcome is good with surgical repair. Complications may result if a large defect is not treated.

Complications:

congestive heart failure
infective endocarditis (bacterial infection of the heart)
aortic insufficiency (leaking of the valve that separates the left ventricle from the aorta)
damage to the electrical conduction system of the heart during surgery (causing arrhythmias)
delayed growth and development (failure to thrive in infancy)
pulmonary hypertension (high blood pressure in the lungs) leading to failure of the right side of the heart

Calling your health care provider:

Most often, this condition is diagnosed during routine examination of an infant. Call your infant's health care provider if the baby seems to be having difficulty breathing, or if the baby seems to have an unusual number of respiratory infections.

Review Date: 5/17/2004
Reviewed By: Elchanan Bruckheimer, MBBS, Director of Pediatric Cardiac Catheterization, Schneider Children's Medical Center Israel, Petach Tikva, Israel. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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