Congenital heart disease refers to a variety of heart defects that are present from birth.
Basic Facts
- Congenital heart disease is a heart defect that is present from birth.
- Congenital heart disease includes:
- abnormally formed blood vessels
- abnormal heart valves
- abnormalities of the heart muscle or walls,
- abnormal connections between the heart and the blood vessels
- Congenital heart disease can cause problems in children immediately after they are born or during childhood or adolescence. Sometimes it may not be diagnosed until adulthood.
- Congenital heart disease sometimes requires medications and/or surgery
- Pediatric cardiologists take care of congenital heart disease.
- Adult patients with congenital heart disease may need specialized adult cardiologists with expertise in congenital heart disease.
Congenital heart defects are the most common birth defect. Some defects go away with time, but most require care from a cardiologist to ensure the patient does as well as possible. Defects can be diagnosed at anytime from birth to adulthood. The most severe defects are diagnosed at birth, because the heart defect causes the baby to be ill or because the defect causes an abnormal heart murmur that is heard when the doctor listens with a stethoscope. Less severe defects may not be diagnosed until childhood or adulthood, when symptoms of the defect finally develop or when a murmur is heard. The type of treatment needed and the outcomes depend on the kind of congenital heart defect a patient has.
Back to Top
Background -- Normal Heart
To best understand congenital heart disease, it is helpful to have an understanding of how a normal heart is structured and functions.
Back to Top
Anatomy
A normal heart has four chambers and four valves. It functions as a pump to bring oxygen-poor blood (blue blood) to the lungs and oxygen rich blood (red blood) to the body.
Chambers: The Atria and Ventricles
In the normal heart there are two chambers on top called the atria and two bottom chambers called ventricles. The atria and ventricles are named by the side of the heart they are on. There is a left atrium and a left ventricle and there is a right atrium and right ventricle. The wall between two chambers is called the septum. The atria receive blood and valves allow the blood to flow into the ventricles. The ventricles are muscular pumping chambers. They pump blood out to the lungs or to the body.
Arteries: The Pulmonary Artery and Aorta
There are two large arteries that leave the heart. One carries blood to the lungs, called the pulmonary artery. It has a main artery that branches into two arteries, one to the left lung and one to the right lung. The other main artery is the aorta, which carries blood to the body. The arteries that feed the heart muscle itself are called coronary arteries, and these come off the aorta.
Valves: Mitral, Tricuspid, Aortic and Pulmonary
The valves of the heart regulate blood flow by opening at the right time to allow blood flow to go forward. They close to prevent blood from leaking backward. There are two valves called atrioventricular valves between the atria and the ventricles. The one on the right is called the tricuspid valve and the one on the left is called the mitral valve. There are also valves between the ventricles and the arteries they pump blood to. The pulmonary valve is between the right ventricle and pulmonary artery and the aortic valve is between the left ventricle and the aorta.
Back to Top
Normal Blood Flow Through the Heart
Blue Blood: From the body to the lungs
In a normal heart, oxygen-poor blood comes back to the heart through the inferior (bottom) and superior (top) vena cava. These are large veins that are attached to the right atrium. The tricuspid valve regulates blood flow from the right atrium into the right ventricle. When the valve is open, blood flows from the right atrium into the right ventricle. When the valve is closed, it prevents blood from going backwards. The right ventricle then squeezes blood out to the pulmonary artery, the main artery going to the lungs. The pulmonary valve that regulates blood flow going to the lungs from the right ventricle.
Red Blood: From the lungs to the body
In the lungs, the blood gets oxygen. The oxygen-rich blood returns to the heart through the pulmonary veins. The pulmonary veins empty into the left atrium. Between the left atrium and left ventricle is the mitral valve, which regulates blood flow between these chambers chambers. When the mitral valve is open, blood flows from the left atrium into the left ventricle. When the valve is closed, it prevents blood from going backwards into the lungs. The left ventricle then pumps oxygen-rich blood out to the body. The blood is pumped into the aorta. The aortic valve regulates the blood flow going from the left ventricle into the aorta. The aorta is the major artery carrying blood to the body.
More Information
In patients with congenital heart disease, the heart and/or blood vessels are structurally different than described above. For more information about specific types of congenital heart disease, please click the links below.
Atrial Septal Defects
Ventricular Septal Defects
Coarctation of the Aorta
Please check back soon as we will be adding more information on congenital heart disease to the site.
Back to Top