Sinn der Hilfe Engel ! » to repair congenital heart defects include:

Welcome to part 2 of a series aimed at increasing congenital heart defect awareness. In part 1 http://www.hockeybluesteamshop.com/hoodie/ , we looked at the types, symptoms and causes of this illness. In part 2, we will take a look at the currently available treatments for this condition and the ongoing research efforts to treat CHD using stem cells.

In many cases, congenital heart defects don’t need to be treated because their symptoms are not severe. If the defect is a very small hole in a section of the heart, it can even heal on its own.However, If treatment is required, there are three options which are frequently used:

This is a less invasive procedure than other surgical treatments for CHD. To repair a CHD, the catheter is typically inserted into a vein or artery and guided to the site of the heart defect. It is often used to treat minor congenital heart defects, including atrial septal defect (ASD) and pulmonary valve stenosis (Nhlbi.nih.gov, 2016).

In some cases, devices are attached to the catheter http://www.hockeybluesteamshop.com/customized/ , which can be used to seal congenital defects that have caused a hole in the heart. By reducing the size of the hole, the device can help the heart heal the hole over time.

If the congenital heart defect involves narrowed valves, a balloon can be attached to the catheter to stretch the size of the valve. The balloon reaches the site of the valve, is inflated to enlarge the hole, then deflated and removed. A variety of technologies are used to help doctors perform these procedures including echocardiography, transesophageal echo, and coronary angiography.

If a catheter cannot be used to repair the anomaly, more extensive surgery may be required. In many cases, a surgeon may be able to repair the problem completely with one surgical procedure, but in some cases a number of procedures may be required.

Some of the ways in which surgical procedures can be used to repair congenital heart defects include:

• Repairing heart valves or replacing them