Congenital cardiac diseases, What are they and how to treat them?


"When a parent has the news that his child has a heart problem he enters unknown territory, he has a lot of doubts and does not always understands the medical terminology".


This is the reason why Clinica Cardiovascular, observing this problem, has a multidisciplinary team and is trained to manage these diseases to guide and offer the best management for this wide range of diseases, affecting pediatric patients and sometimes, also adults who were never diagnosed or treated on time.

What are Congenital Cardiac diseases?

They are defects in the structure of the heart and its large vessels, which are present at birth, this does not mean that they are hereditary, but they occurred during the formation of the heart in the mother's uterus.
Among children with these disorders there is a wide spectrum of severity, approximately 2 to 3 of every 1000 newborns present with symptomatic congenital heart disease during the first year of life. The origin and how the vast majority of congenital heart disease occurs are still unknown.



The moment when these are manifested are very variable, there are some that can give symptomatology once the baby is born, however, there are others that do not give clinical manifestations until months later and in rare occasions, they can even happen years.
Congenital heart disease is sometimes associated with certain syndromes such as Down syndrome, among others. Therefore, it is important for these patients to perform a specialized cardiological evaluation to rule out this type of disease.

What to do if you suspect Congenital Heart Disease?

The evaluation of the treating doctor or pediatrician is very important, since other congenital diseases are ruled out in other organs. But the diagnosis to confirm and/or rule out a congenital heart disease must be confirmed by the Pediatric Cardiologist, by performing a Echocardiogram, an Ultrasound of the Heart, this is a non-painful and tolerable diagnostic procedure in all types of patients, including Newborns of few hours of life.



Once the diagnosis is made and the congenital heart disease is classified, the decision is made if it merits any type of treatment, since each disease is different, in Clinica Cardiovascular we recommend to seek care and advice with specialists who have the experience in the management of these Pathologies, because current advances in techniques has allowed these patients to have a completely normal life after an intervention.

How can I suspect my son or daughter has a congenital heart disease?

First of all, the most important thing is to have a prenatal control throughout your pregnancy and once your baby is born, it must be EVALUATED BY YOUR PEDIATRICIAN.



Although certain heart diseases do not give symptomatology; others do and may give symptoms or presence of findings to physical examination such as:

Cyanosis (violet or purplish color on lips and fingers)
Fatigue or shortness of breath when eating or struggling (walking or running)
Difficulty gaining weight and height
High pressure (arterial) at very young age
Presence of heart murmurs 
Multiple respiratory infections.


What are Congenital Heart Diseases?

These diseases are classified in several ways, to make it easier to understand we will name the most common, sometimes there may be several in the same patient.

VSD - Ventricular septal defect
ASD - Atrial septal defect
PDA - Patent Ductus Arteriosus
TET - Tetralogy of Fallot
TAPVR - Total anomalous pulmonary venous return
AVC - Atrio-Ventricular Canal
CoAo - Aortic coarctation
TGA - Transposition of the great arteries
PE - Pulmonary estenosis
IAA - Interrupted aortic arch
DORV - Double Outlet Right Ventricle
HLHS - Hypoplasic left heart syndrome
Single Ventricle
Truncus arteriosus


What to do if my child or family member is diagnosed with Congenital Heart Disease?

The majority of congenital heart defects require a surgical intervention for their healing and therefore Cardiovascular Clinic counts on the specialized and experienced Team in Panama for the management and treatment of these diseases, always with the aim of orienting it towards the taking of the best Decision, in addition to the support of Local Foundations focused on the subject of congenital heart disease, which parents and relatives of children with these diseases participate and will be equally willing to support and guide it.

If you want more information, do not hesitate to contact us.