Ventricular and Atrial Septal Defects
Ventricular and Atrial Septal Defects
A septal defect is a hole in the septum, the muscle wall separating the right from the left atrium and the right from the left ventricle. When a child is born with a hole in the septum, blood leaks back from the left side of the heart, where the pressure is higher, to the right. If the leakage is minor, it may create only minor problems, but if it's significant, it can make for inefficient blood flow throughout the body and lead to enlargement of a heart chamber. When such a leakage occurs, the heart may be overworked, and a child will have difficulty breathing and growing normally.
Septal defects are named for the location of the hole: a ventricular septal defect or an atrial septal defect.
A
ventricular septal defect
is a hole in the septum between
the right and left ventricles. In
normal circulation, of course,
blood moves from the right
ventricle to the lungs to pick up
oxygen before moving on to the
left atrium and left ventricle,
from where it's then pumped out
through the aorta to all body
organs. With a ventricular septal
defect, some of the oxygen-rich
blood in the left ventricle leaks
back to the right ventricle and
is unnecessarily recirculated to
the lungs.
The result, in addition to extra blood being sent to the lungs, is a reduced amount of blood sent throughout the body. In response, the left ventricle works harder than ever to maintain adequate circulation. Eventually, the heart may become enlarged, which can bring about even poorer heart function and further reduce the amount of blood circulated throughout the body. Symptoms of ventricular septal defects, including respiratory distress, heart failure, and failure to grow, may not become evident for weeks after birth. Surgical repair of the hole will probably be recommended unless spontaneous closure occurs.
Fortunately, many ventricular septal defects naturally close - either partially or completely - during the first 7 years of life. And some cases of partial closure don't require surgery unless the remaining hole causes heart enlargement.
An
atrial septal defect most
frequently involves the failure
of the normal hole present
between the fetus's two atria to
close. In this defect, called an
ostium secundum defect, the
oval-shaped hole in the fetus's
atrial septum fails to close
naturally soon after birth.
About one-fourth of atrial septal defects close by themselves before the child is 2 years old. After that time, natural closure is rare, so serious cases (those in which the right side of the heart is enlarged) typically require surgery. Traditional surgery usually involves repairing the hole with a fabric patch graft. Recent advances also have been made in less invasive repair methods: Through a catheterization procedure, a small umbrella-like device can be implanted to cover the hole.
Often, the symptoms of atrial septal defects don't appear during childhood. Instead, the effects are quite gradual. A child with the defect may be unusually slender, but not until adulthood does the gradual enlargement of the right atrium take its toll. Then, the person may experience arrhythmias, especially atrial fibrillation or heart failure, a condition in which the heart can't pump enough blood to supply the body's needs. Heart failure can cause congestion of blood and fluid in the body tissues, such as the lungs, liver, abdomen, and legs.
|
I promise to answer your message -- click here to send me a personal message
|
SUBSCRIBE: The Wednesday Letter is a free electronic monthly newsletter written and published by Karl Loren. You can view more than 50 back issues of this publication by clicking here. The Wednesday Letter subscription list is maintained on a secure server, no name is ever given or sold to anyone, and it is never used except for this Newsletter. It is automatically published on the Tuesday night just before the first Wednesday of every month. You can subscribe to this free monthly electronic letter by entering your eMail address and name below. You will then automatically receive a request for confirmation, sent to whatever address you have entered. If you do NOT receive this confirmation request, then you will not be subscribed. There may have been an error with your address and you should resubmit. The letter is never sent twice to the same address -- so you do not have to worry about a duplicate subscription. When you receive this confirmation request you must reply to it, or your subscription will not become active. No one can subscribe your name, and address, without you being notified, and if you get an unwanted notice of subscription you only need to DO NOTHING and the subscription will NOT be active.
REMOVAL: You can remove yourself from the subscription list in several different ways. Click here to read about this entire newsletter system. Every edition of The Wednesday Letter is delivered to your address with YOUR name and address in view on the letter, with a link that allows you to remove THAT name from the subscription list. If you try to send this removal message from an address different from the one you used to send in your original confirmation, then you will get a warning notice first, sent to the subscription address, asking you to confirm that you want to be removed from the list -- by replying to THAT request for confirmation, you will then be automatically removed. Thus, no one else can unsubscribe you, from some other computer, without your knowledge. But, if you send in the unsubscribe notice from the same machine used to receive the Letter, then the removal from the subscription list is automatic.
Personal Message: When you send a personal message to Karl Loren, you will receive a personal reply as per his instructions. Karl pledges that every personal message will get a personal answer. When you provide your mail address, we will send you free information including our free catalog and a cassette tape lecture by Karl Loren about heart disease, no charge, by mail, even if outside the US. You can select particular information you would like to receive, along with the free cassette tape and catalog.
You can reach Vibrant Life in many ways, including by mail to Vibrant Life, 2808 N. Naomi St., Burbank, CA 91504. Within the US and Canada, use the toll free number: (800) 523-4521, the local number: (818) 558-1799, the FAX: (818) 558-7299, eMail to kimberly@oralchelation.com or any one of the hundreds of message forms throughout the 50 web sites. Vibrant Life normally ships the same day we get an order. There are message forms on each of the 100,000+ pages on this and other sites where you can communicate with Vibrant Life. Check out our companion site, at: http://www.oralchelation.net where Karl's 2000 page book is published. Karl Loren is the author and webmaster for this BOOK, as well as for another web site about ORAL CHELATION. His personal philosophical articles are at PHILOSOPHY.
Copyright © May 20, 2008 6:24 AM by Karl Loren on behalf of Vibrant Life, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Permission is granted for non-commercial downloading, copying, distribution or redistribution on two conditions: One, that some form of copyright notice is included in every copy distributed or copied, showing the copyright belonging to Vibrant Life, Burbank, CA, at www.oralchelation.com . The second condition is that the material is not to be used for any purpose contrary to the purposes and objectives of this site. This permission does not extend to materials on this site which are copyrighted by others.