What happens if the septum has a hole

This wall also is called the ventricular septum. A ventricular septal defect happens during pregnancy if the wall that forms between the two ventricles does not fully develop, leaving a hole. A ventricular septal defect is one type of congenital heart defect.

Congenital means present at birth. In a baby without a congenital heart defect, the right side of the heart pumps oxygen-poor blood from the heart to the lungs, and the left side of the heart pumps oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body. In babies with a ventricular septal defect, blood often flows from the left ventricle through the ventricular septal defect to the right ventricle and into the lungs.

This extra blood being pumped into the lungs forces the heart and lungs to work harder. Over time, if not repaired, this defect can increase the risk for other complications, including heart failure, high blood pressure in the lungs called pulmonary hypertension , irregular heart rhythms called arrhythmia , or stroke. Learn more about how the heart works ».

An infant with a ventricular septal defect can have one or more holes in different places of the septum. There are several names for these holes. Some common locations and names are see figure :. In a study in Atlanta, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC estimated that 42 of every 10, babies born had a ventricular septal defect. In other words, about 1 in every babies born in the United States each year are born with a ventricular septal defect.

The causes of heart defects such as a ventricular septal defect among most babies are unknown. Some babies have heart defects because of changes in their genes or chromosomes.

The device is designed to flatten against the septum on both sides to close and permanently seal the VSD. After healing from an operation to repair the defect, a child should have no further symptoms or problems. In most cases, kids who have VSD surgery recover quickly and without complications.

But doctors will closely watch the child for signs or symptoms of any problems. Your child may have another echocardiogram to make sure that the heart defect has closed completely. If your child is having trouble breathing, call your doctor or go to the emergency department immediately.

Other symptoms that may indicate a problem include:. Having your child diagnosed with a heart condition can be scary. But the good news is that your pediatric cardiologist will be very familiar with VSDs and how best to manage the condition. Most kids who've had a VSD corrected go on to live healthy, active lives.

Reviewed by: Steven B. Larger text size Large text size Regular text size. What Is a Ventricular Septal Defect? What Happens in a Ventricular Septal Defect? As a result: When the heart beats, some of the blood in the left ventricle which has been enriched by oxygen from the lungs flows through the hole in the septum into the right ventricle.

In the right ventricle, this oxygen-rich blood mixes with the oxygen-poor blood and goes back to the lungs. VSDs can be located in different places on the septum and can vary in size.

What Causes a Ventricular Septal Defect? If a VSD is suspected, the cardiologist may order one or more of these tests: a chest X-ray : a picture of the heart and surrounding organs an electrocardiogram EKG : a record of the heart's electrical activity. This is often the primary tool used to diagnose a VSD. This test usually is done for a VSD only when more information is needed than the other tests can give. It's sometimes also used to close certain kinds of VSDs.

Heart Surgery Surgery usually is done within the first few weeks to months of a child's life. What Else Should I Know? Other symptoms that may indicate a problem include: a bluish color around the mouth or on the lips and tongue poor appetite or difficulty feeding failure to gain weight or weight loss listlessness or decreased activity level a long-lasting or unexplained fever increasing pain, tenderness, or pus oozing from the incision Call your doctor if you notice any of these signs in your child after closure of the VSD.

Treatment for an atrial septal defect depends on the age of diagnosis, the number of or seriousness of symptoms, size of the hole, and presence of other conditions. Sometimes surgery is needed to repair the hole. Sometimes medications are prescribed to help treat symptoms. There are no known medications that can repair the hole.

If a child is diagnosed with an atrial septal defect, the health care provider may want to monitor it for a while to see if the hole closes on its own. During this period of time, the health care provider might treat symptoms with medicine. A health care provider may recommend the atrial septal defect be closed for a child with a large atrial septal defect, even if there are few symptoms, to prevent problems later in life. Closure may also be recommended for an adult who has many or severe symptoms.

Closure of the hole may be done during cardiac catheterization or open-heart surgery. The images are in the public domain and thus free of any copyright restrictions. As a matter of courtesy we request that the content provider Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities be credited and notified in any public or private usage of this image. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link.

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