Birth Defects :: Heart

Myths about spontaneous closure of heart defects

Very few percentage of small heart defects like VSD and ASD will have spontaneous closure but not all. The chances of spontaneous closure will decrease as the child grows older. The defects rarely close after one year of age. Early correction is required if the child has intractable congestive heart failure, failure to thrive and develop severe pulmonary arterial hypertension. Some of the defects like large perimembranous VSD and supracrystal VSDs do not have spontaneous closure.

Special Situations

Children after prosthetic valve or conduit replacements need to take anti coagulants (blood thinning tablets) based on the INR status. These children can have bleeding problems with over dosage and clotting problems with under use of medication. Palliative / staged procedure patients require medical supervision for the final correction. If they have significant residual problems, may require catheter or surgical interventions.

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