What is bicuspid aortic valve? A bicuspid aortic valve is the most common form of congenital heart disease (CHD) and is thought to affect 1 to 2 in a 100 people. It consists in an anomaly of the aortic valve, which represents the outlet valve from the left sided pumping chamber (the left ventricle). The…
Pulmonary stenosis is a narrowing of the pulmonary valve. This means the right ventricle has to work harder to pump blue blood into the pulmonary artery and so to the lungs to pick up oxygen. Pulmonary valve stenosis: symptoms, causes and diagnosis What is a pulmonary valve stenosis? It is a condition where the pulmonary…
Tetralogy of Fallot: symptoms, causes, treatment and repair Tetralogy of Fallot is a condition where there is a narrowing in the blood flow from the right ventricle to the lungs, as a consequence of thick muscle underneath the pulmonary valve and a small pulmonary valve. There is also a VSD (hole between the pumping chambers)…
What are the causes of chest pain in children and teenagers? Chest pain is very common in children and adolescents and represents a large part of a paediatric cardiologist’s workload. As the chest is a very busy area there are many reasons for pain occurring in the chest. The most common type of chest pain…
Aortic coarctation The aorta is the major artery that carries blood away fro the heart and to the whole body. The artery starts from the left sided pumping chamber (left ventricle) and runs initially in the anterior part of the chest. Subsequently, it turns backwards before bending again in a downward direction, running down the…
What is a patent ductus arteriosus? The structure called ductus arteriosus (or arterial duct) is a normal blood vessel that connects two major body arteries (the pulmonary artery and the aorta) that carry blood away from the heart (into the lungs and the body respectively) during foetal life. The role of the ductus arteriorus is…