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VSD in 8 Month Fetus
Hi Doc,
My wife is pregnant for the past 29 weeks, we took a colour doppler scan to check the amniotic fluid level & Internal growth of the baby. The Radiologist found that the fetus has developed a small VSD of around 12.0MM and it needs a POST NATAL followup. He also said that i will be alright once the baby is born, but when we consult the Gynecologist, she informed that 12.0MM needs to be corrected through surgery and it cannot be corrected automatically, she wants to monitor the growth of my baby for the next 10 weeks and she has suggested for 4 Dimensional scan inorder to monitor the growth of the VSD. Can you please suggest me whether this is a serious problem are this will be automatically corrected once my baby is born, will there be any serious congestion for my baby to move inside the amniotic sac and will it be tough for the baby to breath.
Please help this is my first baby and we are more eagerly waiting for our baby's birth
Thanks in Advance
Vijay Shankar.S
My wife is pregnant for the past 29 weeks, we took a colour doppler scan to check the amniotic fluid level & Internal growth of the baby. The Radiologist found that the fetus has developed a small VSD of around 12.0MM and it needs a POST NATAL followup. He also said that i will be alright once the baby is born, but when we consult the Gynecologist, she informed that 12.0MM needs to be corrected through surgery and it cannot be corrected automatically, she wants to monitor the growth of my baby for the next 10 weeks and she has suggested for 4 Dimensional scan inorder to monitor the growth of the VSD. Can you please suggest me whether this is a serious problem are this will be automatically corrected once my baby is born, will there be any serious congestion for my baby to move inside the amniotic sac and will it be tough for the baby to breath.
Please help this is my first baby and we are more eagerly waiting for our baby's birth
Thanks in Advance
Vijay Shankar.S
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Dear Vijay,
Without seeing exactly what is going on with the fetal ultrasound, I cannot fully guide you with this. Having said that, if it is truly just a 12 millimeter ventricular septal defect (VSD), there are a couple of things to know. First, this should not cause any problems in utero, so following it with repeated ultrasonographic studies does not do anything to help your baby. It should not lead to any problems prior to delivery. Second, a 12 mm VSD is a large defect, whether it is in utero or post-natal; it is most assuredly not small. The likelihood that it will spontaneously close, either in utero or after birth, is quite low. Therefore, it will eventually require surgery, but it is certainly not an emergency situation. At our institution, we typically do this by about 2 to 4 months of age. Your baby most likely will not have problems secondary to the VSD at birth. Sometimes it takes a few weeks to start seeing symptoms. These symptoms are those of what we call congestive heart failure, and can include getting out of breath or getting sweaty with feeds, as well as breathing fast at rest and, sometimes, difficulty growing. Until these babies get to be a bit older, we treat them with medicines to decrease their symptoms. Sometimes, we also need to increase the density of calories in their formula (if they’re not breast-feeding).
At this point, I would recommend that you be seen by a pediatric cardiologist who specializes in fetal cardiology and have a fetal echocardiogram. That way, you can be assured of the complete diagnosis. With this, not only is the VSD evaluated, but also any other potential associated defects can be found. Sometimes in babies who have VSD’s this large, there can also be associated problems with the aortic arch, the main artery that takes blood out from the left side of the heart to the body, being too small or possibly obstructed. If this is the case, your baby will need to have surgical intervention to fix this sooner after birth. After you have found a cardiologist, you will also need to find a surgical location that performs this kind of repair on a routine basis and has plenty of experience with this. Hopefully you have access to this where you live, so that your cardiologist and, eventually, your surgeon will be able to work with your child and your family to be able to better care for and plan for your child’s medical and surgical care.
Without seeing exactly what is going on with the fetal ultrasound, I cannot fully guide you with this. Having said that, if it is truly just a 12 millimeter ventricular septal defect (VSD), there are a couple of things to know. First, this should not cause any problems in utero, so following it with repeated ultrasonographic studies does not do anything to help your baby. It should not lead to any problems prior to delivery. Second, a 12 mm VSD is a large defect, whether it is in utero or post-natal; it is most assuredly not small. The likelihood that it will spontaneously close, either in utero or after birth, is quite low. Therefore, it will eventually require surgery, but it is certainly not an emergency situation. At our institution, we typically do this by about 2 to 4 months of age. Your baby most likely will not have problems secondary to the VSD at birth. Sometimes it takes a few weeks to start seeing symptoms. These symptoms are those of what we call congestive heart failure, and can include getting out of breath or getting sweaty with feeds, as well as breathing fast at rest and, sometimes, difficulty growing. Until these babies get to be a bit older, we treat them with medicines to decrease their symptoms. Sometimes, we also need to increase the density of calories in their formula (if they’re not breast-feeding).
At this point, I would recommend that you be seen by a pediatric cardiologist who specializes in fetal cardiology and have a fetal echocardiogram. That way, you can be assured of the complete diagnosis. With this, not only is the VSD evaluated, but also any other potential associated defects can be found. Sometimes in babies who have VSD’s this large, there can also be associated problems with the aortic arch, the main artery that takes blood out from the left side of the heart to the body, being too small or possibly obstructed. If this is the case, your baby will need to have surgical intervention to fix this sooner after birth. After you have found a cardiologist, you will also need to find a surgical location that performs this kind of repair on a routine basis and has plenty of experience with this. Hopefully you have access to this where you live, so that your cardiologist and, eventually, your surgeon will be able to work with your child and your family to be able to better care for and plan for your child’s medical and surgical care.
A related discussion, Suspected 2.2 mm VSD in 32 weeks fetus was started.
Hi, My son today 13 yrs was born with a VSD.Till the child is born don't worry and keep the mother away from any kind of anxiety.Give her rich protein diet.In the mean time ,meet any pediatric cardiologist but yes,be careful and well informed about the doctor.If you are in India then Devi Shetty at Bangalore , Hriduyalaya Hospital or Asian Heart, Mumbai are good.I would also suggest you meet doctors and take independent opinion,at times the interpretation only makes a lot of difference.But be brave ! Don't Worry,when I had found myself in the same situation I was like kind off broken, but now 13 yrs on I can say just add this into your list of challenges, dont panic coz if we are sad that affects the child the most !
Hope my information can help you in some way and make you see the whole thing in a new perspective.
Best of Luck !!
anuishma
Hope my information can help you in some way and make you see the whole thing in a new perspective.
Best of Luck !!
anuishma
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