Cyanotic heart disease

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Heart, section through the middle

Cardiac catheterization

Heart, front view

Clubbing

Cyanotic heart disease

Overview

Symptoms

Treatment

Prevention

Cyanotic heart disease

Alternative Names:

Right-to-left cardiac shunt; Right-to-left circulatory shunt

Treatment:

Some children may need hospitalization to be given oxygen or receive mechanical ventilation.

Medication such as digoxin, diuretics, antiarrhythmics, and prostaglandins may be prescribed.

Several palliative or corrective procedures are currently available that can be performed with a catheter.

The treatment of choice for many congenital heart diseases is surgical repair, sometimes requiring several steps. One commonly used operation is called the Fontan procedure.

Some patients may need a permanent pacemaker.

Expectations (prognosis):

See the specific disorder. Some of these conditions may unfortunately cause sudden death.

Complications:

See the specific disorder. Grave complications of cyanotic heart disease include:

heart failure and hypoxic spells
polycythemia (increased blood count and increased blood thickness and propensity to coagulation)
stroke
infective endocarditis
brain abscess
hemoptysis (bloody sputum)
impaired growth
pulmonary hypertension: increased pressure and resistance in the pulmonary (lung) blood vessels, which ultimately renders the effects of the congenital heart disease irreversible

Calling your health care provider:

Call your health care provider if your baby develops cyanosis (bluish skin) or if breathing seems difficult.

Review Date: 4/27/2004
Reviewed By: Fabian Arnaldo, M.D., Department of Cardiology, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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