Ventricular septal defect
Alternative Names
VSD; Interventricular septal defectSymptoms
Patients with ventricular septal defects may not have symptoms.
The most common symptoms, however, include:
- Shortness of breath
- Fast breathing
- Hard breathing
- Paleness
- Failure to gain weight
- Fast heart rate
- Pounding heart
- Sweating while feeding
- Frequent respiratory infections
Exams and Tests
Listening with a stethoscope usually reveals a heart murmur (the sound of the blood crossing the hole). The loudness of the murmur is related to the size of the defect and amount of blood crossing the defect.
Tests may include:
- Chest x-ray -- looks to see if there is a large heart with fluid in the lungs
- ECG -- shows signs of an enlarged left ventricle
- Echocardiogram -- used to make a definite diagnosis
- Cardiac catheterization (rarely needed, unless there are concerns of high blood pressure in the lungs, in which case surgery to close the defect is generally not recommended)
- MRI of the heart -- used to find out how much blood is getting to the lungs
References
Zipes DP, Libby P, Bonow RO, Braunwald E, eds. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine, 8th ed. St. Louis, Mo; WB Saunders; 2007.
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