why cardiac failure rare in fallot's tetralogy?
343946
Approximately 25% of untreated patients with Tetralogy of Fallot die within the first year of life, 40% by 4 years, 70% by 10 years, and 95% by 40 years. I don't think that would be considered rare.
622844
My grandfather had congestive heart failure;he had a leaky valve that was non-operable . He still lived to be 88 years old;he lived for 15 years with that condition. Another close family member was diagnosed with congestive heart failure at age 48;he should have a normal life expectancy anyway. Medicines are much better than they were 30 years ago. We also now know that diet is very important:stay away from high sodium foods which can kill a person with congestive heart failure because it causes serious fluid retention. People much younger than your brother have been diagnosed with heart failure;children have it also because heart failure occurs when an illness damages the heart muscle. Some people are born with defective hearts. There maybe a chance that after your brother regains his strength that the cardiologists may want to try to operate on the main artery.Doctors do not want to operate on people who are very frail because it is a very stressful recovery.For now,your brother needs to take his medications,follow his diet.For more information,go to the website of The American Heart Association. Also,look up mywebmd.com.
1014974
I' m not sure why at this point someone has not addressed surgery. Is she being followed by a cardiologist? Unless something else is the cause of what sounds to be heart failure, it seems like her regurg. is finally become symptomatic. Has no one approached her about surgery? Has she been told for some reason that she is inoperable? You definetely don't want to jump into surgery if you dont need to. I feel like I need more info to adequately answer your question though. What I would do is direct these questions towards her doctor, preferably a cardiologist. Has she had a heart cath yet?  If not, maybe see if its time. Email me if you find out more or if you have anymore questions. Im a RN in the cardiovascular ICU, I specialize in heart surgery. Good luck to you guys!
284673
blocage in the arteries straining the heart and creating tears when there is lack of blood in the ventricles. if is not clear enough check out www.howstuffworks.com
606824
I am not a med student but I have a st jude pacemaker. Are you having problems with your equip? I have had to have my wires replaced twice and now the new set is fractured, I clotted the first time so my cardiologist says that when he changes them he will have to open my chest and put me on the by-pass machine so that he won't disturb any of the clotted area.....I' m really worried about it.
320207
I also have MVP.  In my case, the person doing the ECG showed me the fault.  I was able to see the valve failing and allowing blood to flow in the wrong direction.  I'd get another ECG done and request to see the result.  It should be easy as it's just a matter of having them point it out to you on the screen.  I wish you all the best!
67184
My son has HLHS. I'm not a doctor, but it sounds like your granddaughter had a similar procedure as my son. Did she have a Fontan? My son is eight years old now -- he enjoys swimming and martial arts and is doing very well in school. He may never be a jock, but our biggest issue right now is getting his handwriting neat ;-). He gets regular checkups from the pediatric cardiologist (every 6 mos. with an annual ECHO and a holter (sp?) monitor every two years.)\n\nWe wish your granddaughter and your family the best of wishes. Let me know if you want to talk.
64697
Almost NIL.\n\nPVL occurs most commonly in premature infants born at less than 32 weeks' gestation and less than 1500 g birth weight. Most infants have a history of cardiorespiratory problems, such as respiratory distress syndrome or pneumonia, in association with hypotension or patent ductus arteriosus.
1044352
No its really dangerous. at high altitude oxygen pressure is low hence body has to extract more oxygen from air and also heart has to work more to increase blood supply to organ so that sufficient oxygen reaches them. in already failing heart it cannot take up this extra load and may worsen patient condition. i would advice not to travel by air and if really very essential than to have supplemental oxygen by face mask oxygen while traveling. medical examination just before boarding is must
1013449
possibly because it was triggered by an outside source...for example if you tried cocaine right before it happened then it was triggered by that.....but if youve had no other runs of it that long then it may not have been SVT either....just a case of ST...if it was a cardiac defect in the hearts electrical system I think you wouldve had more than just one episode....question is was this documented on an ekg???And did a cardiologist interpet it or just a regular dic???Alot can go into deciding if it was SVT or another arrythmia...
1097365
Treadmill stress electrocardiography is employed widely to detect underlying cardiovascular disease in asymptomatic persons. To determine the frequency and significance of an abnormal S-T segment response to exercise in young athletes with increased left ventricular (LV) mass induced by physical conditioning, 75 male isometrically trained athletes without evidence of heart disease (mean age 21 years) and 48 nonathletic young normal subjects were studied by M-mode echocardiography and exercise electrocardiography. Ventricular septal and posterior free wall thicknesses and calculated LV mass were significantly greater in athletes than in control subjects. An abnormal S-T segment response to exercise was present in 7 (9%) of the 75 athletes, all of whom had a LV mass greater than 275 g and in 5 the LV mass was above the 95th percentile of that of the control subjects. An abnormal treadmill exercise test result also was present in 3 (6%) of 48 control subjects. Seven of the 10 subjects with abnormal exercise test results had radionuclide angiograms at rest and with exercise, each of which was normal. It is concluded, therefore, that (1) abnormal exercise test results occur commonly in both athletes and non-athletes; (2) almost 10% of isometrically trained athletes have "false-positive" exercise electrocardiograms, suggesting that this test has major limitations in screening for underlying cardiovascular disease in athletes; and (3) in athletes, a relation was present between "physiologically" increased LV mass and false-positive exercise test results.
308012
Hi, catherine - It sounds like your question basically boils down to semantics.  When someone is in congestive heart failure, their level of activity is limited by shortness of breath or fatigue.  Usually this is a result of abnormal heart function (a 'cardiomyopathy'), but once they are adequately treated and feel back to normal again, they are technically no longer IN congestive heart failure.  But they still have a cardiomyopathy because the underlying problem has not changed.  So you COULD say that congestive heart failure is a clinical condition, but the cardiomyopathy is the underlying disease.  You could argue that either way, though...
449197
It sounds like you are referring to a set of disorders called "connective tissue disorders" which can include Marfan Syndrome and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, among others.  Patients with these sorts of conditions have very flexible joints (double-jointed) among other signs.\n\nThe main heart condition that such patients have to be aware of is a thoracic aortic aneurysm.  Basically, the wall of the aorta (the main artery in your body) is abnormal and can start to balloon up over time.  Not all patients with these conditions will get a thoracic aortic aneurysm, but it should absolutely be screened for.  This needs to be monitored with serial echocardiograms and, if it reaches a certain size, should be operated on.  The risk of not treating a thoracic aortic aneurysm is eventual rupture or dissection, both of which are highly lethal.  (John Ritter died of an ascending aortic dissection.)  Hope that helps.\n\nP.S.  If people don't know the answers to some of these questions, why do they post a response to say, "I don't know!"  Is it just a ploy to earn points or something?  The points are worthless!
87873
Generally it's due to the stress of a long trip on someone with heart failure. This depends on the severity of the disease. Also CHF is a risk factor for DVT (deep venous thrombosis) a blood clot in the leg. Long airline travel can lead to a PE (pulmonary embolus) the clot can travel to and become lodged in a persons lung. More information and better answers are best obtained from your physician, who knows your condition.
833560
The respondant above is largely correct but she is mistaken about 60% of the population having MVP.  The actual number is more like 2%.  \n\nMost people live long lives without complication from this condition.  The main issue for you is with dental cleaning (you should have antibiotics prior to a teeth cleaning and/or procedure)As well as other surgeries that potentially could put you at risk for having bacteria in your blood stream.\n\nCheck out the link to the Mayo Clinic's site.  It gives very good information regarding your condition and prognosis as well as complications.  http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mitral-valveprolapse/DS00504/DSECTION=1\n\nAs far as murmurs being present in childhood - those type of murmurs are usually benign and come from children having slightly different shaped hearts and thin chest walls.  The MVP may have been present in you as a child but it took 28 years for it to be present enough to create a murmur.  The real key here is whether the valve works (opens and closes when it ought) as opposed to whether it prolapses as it is doing it.  The reason no one is treating this as a big deal is because it is not a big deal.\n\nHere's a good article about antibiotics, MVP and when and why you need them.\n\nhttp://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/96/1/358\n\nGood luck.
583437
I'm so sorry to hear about your loss.  One can't imagine what you went through.\n\nMy son had this at six weeks old, it was awful but with a 18month as well to look after, everything was awfult then.\n\nHe then had another attack of it at two years of age.  It was only at that time we realised how ill you can get.  I had to hold the oxygen mask to hids face whilst he fought to breathe.\n\nIt was an horrendous time & I now know that once your child has had it, they will always be suseptable for chest infections etc.\n\nI hope you get some serious answers.\n\nTake care
688875
Ignore the first comment; the person didn't realize that's a nerve bundle block and not an artery blockage.\n\nBasically the depolarization/repolarization of the left ventrical will be slightly slower because the impulse has to use an alternate path around the ventricle. The reason for the blockage is usually unknown. This slight delay in the depolarization results in the widening of the QRS. Fortunately it's not normally something to worry about. I know someone who's lived with it for years and hasn't had any complications, just a slightly different looking ECG.