A hole in the wall that separates the heart's lower chambers. This occurs when the wall between the ventricles (lower chambers) does not develop fully before the baby is born.
Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD)
♦ Most common cardiac defect seen in children
♦ Classified according to size of defect, e.g., large, small(
<5 mm)
♦ Most occur in membranous portion of interventricular septum
♦ May predispose to infective endocarditis
Small VSD
♦ Infrequent, minor symptoms usually
♦ Systolic murmur with mild shunt
♦ Pansystolic murmur
♦ May close spontaneously as patient
gets older
Large VSD
♦ More serious than small VSDs
♦ Large left-to-right shunts producing:
– Volume overload
– Biventricular hypertrophy
– Pulmonary hypertension
– Eventual reversal of shunt with cyanosis (Eisenmenger’s syndrome)
Cardiomyopathy
Cardiomyopathy is a heart muscle disease that affects how well the heart pumps blood to the body.
Types of Cardiomyopathy
There are different types of cardiomyopathy, such as:
-dilated
-hypertrophic
-restrictive
-arrhythmogenic
each with its own causes and symptoms.
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
Clinical
♦ 50% familial (autosomal dominant), myosin heavy chain defect
♦ HLA linkage to chromosome 6
♦ Clinical evaluation needed to make diagnosis
♦ Symptoms of left ventricular outflow obstruction
♦ Cause of sudden death during exercise
♦ Treated by beta adrenergic blockage, septal myotomy or myomectomy
Macroscopic
♦ Asymmetric septal hypertrophy
♦ Plaque in the left ventricular
♦ Mitral valve thickening and enlarged left atrium
