Congenital Heart Valve Disease: Top 6 Facts for Patients & Parents

When a parent learns their child has been diagnosed with congenital heart valve disease, it can be terrifying. First, they want to know if their child will be alright, but as time goes by, they inevitably ask how or why, and then, what this means for their child’s future. Gaining as much information as possible and working with a great team of cardiologists can be the best solution to calming fears and answering the seemingly endless questions any parent has.

To help parents and patients learn more about congenital heart valve disease, Adam Pick met with Dr. Melita Viegas, a leading cardiac surgeon at the Guerin Family Congenital Heart Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. Dr. Viegas explained the top six facts that patients and their parents should know about congenital heart valve disease.

Video available online at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6Dh5ITgrVc

Key Facts About Congenital Heart Valve Disease

Here are the key insights shared by Dr. Viegas:

• The disease is present at birth. “Congenital heart valve disease means that you were born with it,” said Dr. Viegas. “It’s something that happened when the baby was developing. So, it’s not something that anybody did or any type of medication. It was present at the time of birth.”

• It is not a rare disease. “Another thing that people should know is that congenital heart disease is actually quite common. It occurs in 1 out of 100 births,” said Dr. Viegas.

• Congenital heart disease doesn’t always require intervention. “Not everyone diagnosed with congenital heart disease will need an operation. Having congenital heart disease just means there is something abnormal; sometimes those things may not need an intervention, other times they do. For example, one percent of the population has a bicuspid aortic valve. Some people can live their entire lives without intervention, while others may need intervention later in life. So, congenital heart disease lives on a spectrum.”

• Many patients don’t have any symptoms when they have congenital heart disease. “It is widely misunderstood, and often it’s because people don’t know they even have it. Symptoms can be non-existent and quite insidious.” Dr. Viegas explained that patients often find out they have congenital heart disease after having tests to diagnose other illnesses. “Certain exams that could pick these up could be chest x-rays, a CT scan, even when patients have no symptoms of the disease.”

• The symptoms and progression of congenital heart valve disease can vary from patient to patient. “Not only is congenital heart disease misunderstood, but it can often progress and affect different systems within the heart for each patient. For example, one patient may have an irregular rhythm while another may have fluid around the heart.”

• Advancements in cardiac medicine offers patients hope. “The good news is there are multiple interventions we can offer patients to help deal with their valve disease,” Dr. Viegas said. “It may be surgical or interventional, but we really look at the patient to decide what is best, depending on age, what the valve looks like, and several other characteristics of the disease. To ensure our patients live as normal a life as possible, long-term follow-up is extremely important. Our adult congenital cardiologists do an amazing job of following our patients to ensure they receive the care they need when they need it.”

Thanks, Dr. Viegas and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center!

On behalf of all the patients in our community, thank you, Dr. Melita Viegas, for everything you and your team are doing with the Guerin Family Congenital Heart Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California!

Related links:

·      See the Interactive Surgeon Profile for Dr. Melita Viegas

·      Learn More About the Guerin Family Congenital Heart Program at Cedars-Sinai

Keep on tickin,

Adam

P.S. For the deaf and hard-of-hearing members of our patient community, we have provided a written transcript of our interview with Dr. Viegas below.