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Cyanotic heart disease - Treatment

Alternative Names

Right-to-left cardiac shunt; Right-to-left circulatory shunt

Treatment:

Some children may need to stay in the hospital so they can receive oxygen or be put on a breathing machine.

Medication, such as digoxin, diuretics, antiarrhythmics, and prostaglandins, may be prescribed.

The treatment of choice for many congenital heart diseases is surgery to repair the defect. There are many types of surgery, depending on the type of birth defect.

Some patients may need a permanent pacemaker.

Expectations (prognosis):

See the specific disorder. Some of these conditions may unfortunately cause sudden death.

Complications:

Complications of cyanotic heart disease include:

Heart failure
Polycythemia
Arrhythmias
Stroke
Infectious endocarditis
Brain abscess
Hemoptysis (coughing up blood)
Impaired growth
Pulmonary hypertension

Calling your health care provider:

Call your health care provider if your baby develops cyanosis (bluish skin) or if breathing seems difficult.

Heart, section through the middle

Heart, front view

Cyanotic heart disease

Reviewed last on: 12/10/2007
David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.; and Mark A Fogel, MD, FACC, FAAP, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Radiology, Director of Cardiac MR, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

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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