Ventricular septal defect is what?

Written by Chen Tian Hua
Cardiology
Updated on March 03, 2025
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Ventricular septal defect is a common congenital heart disease, mainly due to the abnormal defect in the ventricular septum during the fetal development, resulting in an abnormal channel between the left and right ventricles. Ventricular septal defect can cause blood to shunt from the left ventricle to the right ventricle, gradually increasing the blood flow in the pulmonary circulation, leading to an increase in the volume load of the left and right ventricles, while causing a decrease in the systemic circulation volume. In the later stages, due to the significant increase in right ventricular pressure, it leads to right-to-left shunting, thereby causing Eisenmenger's syndrome. For ventricular septal defects with a large degree of defect, timely interventional treatment or surgical ventricular septal defect repair is required.

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Written by Zhang Zhi Gong
Cardiothoracic Surgery
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Interventricular septal defect X-ray manifestation

X-ray Manifestations of Ventricular Septal Defect. These are mainly related to the size of the defect. If the ventricular septal defect is relatively small, for example less than three millimeters, the amount of blood shunted from the left ventricle to the right ventricular system is minimal. Consequently, right ventricular congestion is not pronounced, making pulmonary congestion also less obvious. At this point, the X-ray may show no significant changes. However, if the defect is larger, greater than three millimeters, for instance five millimeters, a large volume of high-pressure blood from the left ventricle will flow excessively through the defect into the right ventricular system. This leads to significant congestion in the right ventricle and, thus, in the entire pulmonary circulation. Additionally, the X-ray will show a prominent pulmonary artery segment and increased pulmonary blood flow. Moreover, over time, this condition may lead to compensatory enlargement of the left ventricular system. On the X-ray, enlargement of both the right and left ventricles can be observed. Furthermore, due to sustained high pressure, the distal pulmonary arteries may show signs of severe pulmonary vascular disease on the X-ray, resembling a broken book. This indicates that the pulmonary circulation has reached an end-stage condition.

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Written by Zhang Zhi Gong
Cardiothoracic Surgery
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Does a ventricular septal defect affect development?

Does a ventricular septal defect affect development? For relatively small ventricular septal defects, such as those under five millimeters, the shunt from the left ventricle to the right ventricle is minimal, hence patients may not exhibit noticeable symptoms. However, if the defect is larger, for instance, over five millimeters, a large volume of blood will flow from the left ventricle into the right ventricular system. This causes congestion in the right ventricular system and the pulmonary circulation will be flooded with blood. As the saying goes, "flowing water does not rot, nor do door hinges become worm-eaten"; however, when a large amount of blood accumulates in the pulmonary vessels, patients are prone to recurrent respiratory infections and even congestive right heart failure, which then leads to feeding difficulties. Patients feel consistently uncomfortable and have difficulty breathing, so they may be reluctant to eat, especially in young children who need considerable effort to drink milk, which requires some breath-holding. At this time, patients experience feeding difficulties, which equates to developmental delays. Therefore, larger ventricular septal defects can affect a child's development. Small defects, such as those under three millimeters, might not affect development, but larger defects do impact development and thus require timely treatment.

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Can someone with a ventricular septal defect travel by airplane?

Generally, individuals with ventricular septal defects (VSD) with no complications do not display symptoms and are able to travel by airplane. When such defects are at an early stage, where cardiac function has not been significantly impaired and there is left-to-right shunting without heart failure or pulmonary hypertension, flying is generally tolerated. After surgery for a ventricular septal defect, patients usually can fly. However, if the patient with a ventricular septal defect is older and in the advanced stages of the condition, exhibiting clear symptoms of heart failure such as difficulty breathing and chest tightness with significant exertional stress, such patients are unable to lie down and should not fly. Additionally, if there is right-to-left shunting or severe pulmonary hypertension has developed, it is unsafe for them to fly as they could potentially face emergencies during the flight.

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Does a ventricular septal defect easily cause hiccups in infants?

The relationship between the two is not very significant. A ventricular septal defect is a type of congenital disease, and currently, surgical treatment is recommended for patients, as medical treatment is not very effective and prone to relapse. For this type of congenital heart disease, it is best to first perform a cardiac echocardiography to make a clear diagnosis. In terms of treatment, early surgical intervention is suggested for patients to thoroughly improve symptoms such as palpitations, chest tightness, and difficulty in breathing. If an infant often experiences hiccupping, it could be a sign that the infant's stomach is not very mature, leading to excessive stomach acid, but this is not significantly related to the ventricular septal defect.

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What should I do about hypoxia due to a ventricular septal defect?

Mild ventricular septal defects generally do not cause hypoxia. If symptoms of hypoxia recur due to a ventricular septal defect, it is recommended to undergo minimally invasive interventional treatment or surgical treatment at a hospital to prevent further episodes. The success rate of this surgery is very high, almost 100%, with relatively few complications. If hypoxia occurs in untreated ventricular septal defects, initial therapy should include oxygen administration, followed by diuretic, cardiotonic, and other treatments to reduce cardiac load at a hospital, and surgery should be considered as soon as suitable.