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How do I manage my baby with congenital heart disease?

This Premium Q&A, reviewed and published, features a real conversation between an iCliniq user and a physician.

Patient's Query

Hi doctor,

My baby's palms and soles of the hands and feet turn black when crying loudly and breathing heavily. The baby cannot drink milk for an extended period and is constantly sweating. Additionally, the infant wakes up unexpectedly from sleep due to breathing difficulties. The oxygen level is at 58 percent. An echocardiogram detected congenital heart disease, with findings including:

  1. DORV (double outlet right ventricle) with TOF (tetralogy of Fallot) variety
  2. A large malaligned VSD (ventricular septal defect) measuring 9 mm with a bidirectional shunt
  3. Aortic override of 80 percent with aorta-mitral discontinuity
  4. GDT (goal-directed therapy) of 65 mm Hg indicating severe infundibular and valvular pulmonary stenosis
  5. MPA (main pulmonary artery) with confluent branch PA hypoplasia
  6. A small 2.4 mm PDA (patent ductus arteriosus) with an L-R shunt
  7. The infant was administered 10 mg of Propranolol, mixed 1 cc in 10 cc of water, three times a day, along with nasal drops for snoring. Good biventricular activity was noted in the right aortic arch.

What should be done next? Is it essential to place a PDA stent immediately? Can surgery be performed at this age?

Kindly suggest.

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I understand your concern.

Yes, inserting a PDA stent (stenting of the patent ductus arteriosus) as soon as possible is critical to preventing the PDA (patent ductus arteriosus) from shutting, as the oxygenation of the entire body depends on it.

Once the stent is in place, the child can be operated on in later phases depending on weight gain. In this instance, the prognosis is generally between 50 and 60 percent.

I hope you are satisfied with my answer. For further queries, you can consult me at icliniq.

Thank you.

Medically reviewed byiCliniq medical review team

Published At July 31, 2022
Reviewed AtDecember 3, 2025

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