Ventricular Septal Defect
Ventricular septal defect means there is a hole in the septum - the dividing wall - between the two ventricles which are the main pumping chambers of the heart (the right ventricle pumps blood round the lungs, the left round the body). Blood passes from the left side, where the pressure is high, to the right, where it is low (except where the pressures are reversed, as in Eisenmenger’s syndrome, described in the heart and blood vessels section). This is the most common defect in congenital heart disease. Very rarely it causes heart failure (see this section), but usually it is simply discovered by the examining doctor, who hears a loud heart murmur during routine examination. Most cases close spontaneously during the first two years of life, and surgery is not required (though antibiotics will be needed before surgical procedures in order to prevent the development of endocarditis - see this section). In some, the raised pressure on the right side of the heart may cause damage to the vessels in the lungs - producing pulmonary hypertension - and surgery to close the defect may be necessary.
|
