Overview

What is pulmonary atresia?

Pulmonary atresia is a congenital (present at birth) heart condition in which the pulmonary valve either doesn't develop correctly after birth or remains blocked. If your pulmonary valve isn't working properly, blood can't flow through the pulmonary artery to your lungs, which absorb oxygen. Instead, low-oxygen blood fills your body.

The pulmonary valve, one of four valves in your heart, is on the right side. It's between your right ventricle and the pulmonary artery, which supplies blood to your lungs. The pulmonary valve opens typically when blood enters the pulmonary artery from your right ventricle.

What are the symptoms of pulmonary atresia?

Pulmonary atresia symptoms might include the following and are typically present in the first few hours or days of a baby's life:

Breathing quickly.
A blue tint to the skin, particularly on the fingers, toes, and lips.
Clammy, pallid, or cool skin.
Breathing issues.
Exhaustion or fatigue.
Inadequate nourishment.

What causes pulmonary atresia?

Pulmonary atresia has an unclear cause. The developing and beating heart of the unborn child occurs throughout the first six weeks of pregnancy. This crucial period also marks the beginning of the development of the main blood arteries that supply and drain the heart. A congenital cardiac condition like pulmonary atresia may start to manifest at this stage of the baby's development.

What are the diagnosis and tests for pulmonary atresia?

Your doctors will perform routine screenings to monitor the fetus's health during your pregnancy. Fetal echocardiography, which uses safe sound waves to examine the fetal heart, can be performed if an ultrasound reveals anything concerning.

After delivery, your child's primary care physician will take a look at their heart and lungs to check whether anything is off-base. They will schedule testing if they discover a heart murmur with a stethoscope, which may include:

Pulse oximetry, a non-invasive test, can determine the amount of oxygen in your baby's blood.
Chest X-ray is a painless imaging technique that shows your child's chest from the outside using X-ray.
An electrocardiogram, or EKG or ECG, is a painless and straightforward strategy for determining whether your child's heart muscle is stressed and estimating the heart's electrical speed.
An echocardiogram is a straightforward and non-invasive imaging procedure that shows your adolescent's heart and heart valves moving with safe sound waves.
Cardiovascular catheterization- a methodology that permits the specialist to see your child's heart and doesn't do any harm. Using a short, adaptable chamber, a vein in your child's groin is implanted. They lead it into their hearts. Contrast dye can be used to get a clear picture of your child's heart and valves.

What is the treatment for pulmonary atresia?

Pulmonary atresia is a complex heart problem that requires careful consideration. Increasing blood flow to the lungs is the main goal of treatment.

Choosing the best treatment:

The child's age, overall health, and severity of the disease will all have an impact on the specific treatment approach. Typical strategies for addressing the purpose of this problem include:

Medication-

Alprostadil: To maintain the ductus arteriosus open, doctors prescribe this medication to infants. This blood vessel, which connects the aorta and pulmonary artery, allows blood to enter the lungs.

Catheters are used in:

Atrial septostomy by balloon: To improve blood flow, this method widens the space between the heart's upper chambers.

Stent placement: To open a narrow pulmonary artery, a surgeon occasionally implants a stent.

Surgery-

Shunting procedures: These create a new path for blood to flow to the lungs.
Glenn procedure: This connects one of the large veins that return blood to the heart to the pulmonary artery.
Fontan procedure: This complex surgery redirects blood flow to the lungs without going through the heart's ventricles.

How many types of pulmonary atresia?

Kinds of pulmonary atresia:

Ventricular septal defect combined with pulmonary atresia. Blood with and without oxygen can mix in this septum, a hole in the wall between the ventricles of the right and left brain.

Unbroken ventricular septum accompanied by pulmonary atresia. Your heart has a complete (intact) wall between its left and right sides.

What is the pulmonary atresia survival rate?

The survival rate at age 1 is 50%, and at age 10, it is 8% if pulmonary atresia with a ventricular septal defect is not surgically corrected. Without surgery, most people do not survive past their 30s.

Living With

When should my child visit their physician?

Your child's pediatric cardiologist will schedule follow-up appointments regularly. This begins two to four weeks after leaving the hospital. As children age, some may require additional heart catheterizations, operations, or specialized medications.

A cardiologist should give long-lasting consideration to people with pulmonary atresia. They might have appointments at least once every six months.

Problems over the long term could include:

Unpredictable pulses.
Heart breakdown.
The aspiratory vein is limiting.

Follow-up care consistently could reduce or try and take out these issues.

Why Tender Palm Super-Speciality Hospital for Pulmonary Atresia?

Tender Palm Hospital has the most experienced team of Cardiologists, Cardiac Surgeons, and diagnostics with the latest and International standard infection control measures in Lucknow, India. The Cardiac Science Centre team has decades of experience in successfully treating Pulmonary Atresia.