Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome

1224 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Fetal circulation consists of

Introduction
One of the rarest of congenital cardiac defects is Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, HLHS. This syndrome is described as a collection of anomalies affecting the left heart and connecting structures. Due to advancements in surgical intervention mortality rates in neonates with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome have decreased. Management of these patients requires a symphony of multidisciplinary teams including fetal and pediatric cardiologist, cardiac surgeons, neonatologist, pulmonologist, nutritionist and family counselors. Options currently comprise of heart transplant, three-staged palliative surgery and comfort care. There may be co-morbidities present which further complicate treatment, but with surgical intervention the prognosis of this once deemed fatal condition is improved. This paper will examine the anatomy and abnormal function of the hypoplastic left heart, three staged surgical intervention and management of patient with HLHS.

Body
Anatomy
Hypoplastic left heart syndrome is a congenital heart defect where the structures in the left heart are severely underdeveloped. The left ventricle, aorta and aortic arch are unable to adequately pump and deliver blood to the body due to their size. Aortic and mitral valve stenosis or atresia is present and in some cases atrial septal defect accompanies. (CDC) Normal fetal circulation involves the use of three shunts that act as liver, heart and lung bypass in order to supply the systemic circulation of oxygen rich blood. Fetal blood is oxygenated by the placenta and travels to the fetus via the umbilical vein. The ductus venous the first shunt which encountered and channels oxygenated blood pass the liver. The shunted blood is then carried via the inferior...

... middle of paper ...

...on is as follows; oxygen-poor blood returns directly to the lungs via the new connection between the pulmonary arteries and the superior and inferior vena cava. Gas exchange occurs in the lungs which then return oxygen-rich blood via the pulmonary arteries
Superior and inferior vena cava carry deoxygenated blood directly to the lungs by dumping into the pulmonary artery. Blood is then returned to the heart by the pulmonary veins to the left and right atria which are now connected then to the right ventricle which functions as the main pumping chamber. Blood exits the heart via the reconstructed aorta which has been attached to the pulmonary artery trunk.
The circulatory pathway is not restored to normal but redirected to ensure adequate gas exchange in the lungs as well as creating a sufficient pump in the right ventricle to support adequate systemic circulation.

Show More
Related

  • Voluntary Circulatory Essay

    459 Words  | 1 Pages

    I only chose respiratory as an answer. However, the correct answers are respiratory and cardiovascular because of the pulmonary circulatory system. Gas exchange occurs at pulmonary capillary beds.

    Read More

  • The Role of Echocardiography in Diagnosing & Treating Ebstein’s Anomaly

    771 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Ebstein’s anomaly is a rare cardiac anomaly that occurs in approximately one in 20,000 live births and accounts for less than 1% of all congenital heart disease (Ebstein’s anomaly in adults)”. The goal of this paper is to examine Ebstein’s Anomaly - to understand what it is, how it affects the heart, possible presenting symptoms, and other possible complications associated with this anomaly. Diagnosis of this anomaly is key in treating patients, thus echocardiographic as well as other test modalities are vital in assessing what the treatment options are available, as well as discerning what the prognosis may be. Advancing test modalities have helped distinguish Ebstein’s Anomaly with other differential diagnoses. Developments with testing modalities coupled with comprehensive calculations, formulas, and measurements have facilitated correctly diagnosing, and therefore properly treating cardiac patients.

    Read More

  • Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome Essay

    2105 Words  | 5 Pages

    “Hypoplastic left heart syndrome accounts for 9% of all critically ill newborns with congenital cardiac disease, causing the largest number of cardiac deaths in the first year of life.(2) ” HLHS is a severe heart defect that is present at birth. HLHS combines different defects that result in an underdeveloped left side of the heart. This syndrome is one of the most challenging and difficult to manage of all of the congenital heart defects. Multiple portions on the left side of the heart are affected including the left ventricle, the mitral and aortic valve, and the ascending aorta. These structures are greatly reduced in size, or completely nonexistent causing the functionality of the left heart to be reduced, or non-functional all together.

    Read More

  • Patent Ductus Arteriosus ( Pda )

    1437 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to Batshaw, Roizen, and Lotrecchiano (2013), patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is “the persistence of a fetal passage permitting blood to bypass the lungs” (p. 745). This is an inherited heart condition in which the ductus, a small pathway between the pulmonary and the aortic, valves remain open. This cardiovascular problem usually occurs in low birth weight infants. The blood vessels usually naturally closes after birth (Batshaw et al., 2013, p. 96). It becomes atypical if it remains open after the neonatal period. The structure usually closes in typical developing newborns around the initial 24 hours, and anatomical closure is supposed to follow several weeks later (Stanford Children’s Health, 2015). At the point when the ductus arteriosus stays open, the blood from the oxygen-rich aorta blends with the oxygen-poor pulmonary artery causing the higher chance of blood pressure in the lung pathways (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2011). Certain children who have patent ductus arteriosus may be given medication, relying upon the circumstance to standardize the blood and oxygen levels until surgery is performed. Doctor can treat this condition by providing pharmaceutical medicine, catheter-based procedures, and surgery (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2011).

    Read More

  • Altitude sickness, or Acute Mountain Sickness

    1806 Words  | 4 Pages

    ... as the heart, major blood vessels, and airways) toward the other side of the chest. The shift can cause the other lung to become compressed, and can affect the flow of blood returning to the heart. This situation can lead to low blood pressure, shock, and death.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Diffusion to Living Organisms

    733 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is when much needed oxygen is obtained by the body in order for respiration to take place and the waste CO2 is taken out of the body. In us mammals, the exchange takes place in the lungs which contain a large number of alveoli. These are sponge-like structures in which the diffusion takes place. They are highly adapted to diffuse the gases as they give a large surface area for exchange of the gases.

    Read More

  • The Cardiac Cycle

    917 Words  | 2 Pages

    The pattern of blood flow starts in the left atrium to right atrium, then into the left ventricle and right ventricle. During its course, blood flows through the mitral and tricuspid valves. Simultaneously, the right atrium is granted blood from the veins through the superior and inferior vena cava. The job of the superior vena cava is to transport de-oxygenated blood to the right atrium. When your heart beats, the first beat represents the AV valves closing to prevent the backflow of blood into the atrium.

    Read More

  • Leading Causes of Death in The United States

    2023 Words  | 5 Pages

    The heart serves as a powerful function in the human body through two main jobs. It pumps oxygen-rich blood throughout the body and “blood vessels called coronary arteries that carry oxygenated blood straight into the heart muscle” (Katzenstein and Pinã, 2). There are four chambers and valves inside the heart that “help regulate the flow of blood as it travels through the heart’s chambers and out to the lungs and body” (Katzenstein Pinã, 2). Within the heart there is the upper chamber known as the atrium (atria) and the lower chamber known as the ventricles. “The atrium receive blood from the lu...

    Read More

  • The Cardiovascular System

    973 Words  | 2 Pages

    As blood travels through the circulatory system, it is first pumped from the right side of the heart to the lungs through the pulmonary arteries and then separates into arterioles which split into capillaries. Here, the deoxygenated blood receives oxygen diffused in the lungs due to large surface area and travel back through venules and then pulmonary veins to the left side of the heart. From here, the oxygen rich blood is pumped throughout the body in arteries, arterioles, and capillaries, providing the body and cells with nutrients through osmosis. Afterwards, the now deoxygenated blood travels back to the right side of the heart containing deoxygenated blood, through venules and vein to repeat the cycle over again. Also, the heart is nourished by coronary circulation through the Right and Left Main Coronary Arteries.

    Read More

  • Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS)

    1705 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (also called HLHS) is a congenital heart defect occurring during the first 8 weeks of pregnancy which leaves the left side of the heart underdeveloped and small. Normally, the right side flows blood to the lungs where oxygen is enriched before it travels to the heart’s left side while the left side of the heart pumps blood into the aorta which flows oxygen-rich blood to the body. In HLHS, the left side of the heart is not able to pump oxygen-rich blood to the body efficiently because the left ventricle is underdeveloped or small. In this case, the right side of the heart pumps the blood both into the lungs and the rest of the body through the ductus arteriosus and the oxygen-rich blood travels back to the

    Read More

  • Gallbladder Essay

    612 Words  | 2 Pages

    It begins at the right atrium. Blood enters the right atrium from the superior and inferior vena cava and the coronary sinus, then it moves through the tricuspid valve. After the tricuspid valve, blood enters the right ventricle which then leads to another valve called the pulmonary semilunar valve. From the pulmonary semilunar valve, blood enters the pulmonary trunk which branches off into the right and left pulmonary arteries. From the pulmonary arteries, the blood enters the lungs and undergoes a gas exchange in the alveoli. After gas exchange has occurred, oxygenated blood flows through the pulmonary veins into the left atrium. From the left atrium, blood runs through the bicuspid valve. From the bicuspid valve, the blood enters the left ventricle and is pumped through a fourth valve, the aortic semilunar valve, and courses through the aortic arch. From the aortic arch, the blood rushes down the descending aorta and runs through the celiac trunk. Said trunk branches off into 3 arteries, one being the common hepatic artery. From the common hepatic artery, blood branches off to the right hepatic and cystic arteries. It is the latter that ultimately supplies the

    Read More

  • Fetal Pig Dissection Essay

    996 Words  | 2 Pages

    The circulatory system and respiratory system share a highly important relationship that is crucial to maintaining the life of an organism. In order for bodily processes to be performed, energy to be created, and homeostasis to be maintained, the exchange of oxygen from the external environment to the intracellular environment is performed by the relationship of these two systems. Starting at the heart, deoxygenated/carbon-dioxide (CO2)-rich blood is moved in through the superior and inferior vena cava into the right atrium, then into the right ventricle when the heart is relaxed. As the heart contracts, the deoxygenated blood is pumped through the pulmonary arteries to capillaries in the lungs. As the organism breathes and intakes oxygenated air, oxygen is exchanged with CO2 in the blood at the capillaries. As the organism breathes out, it expels the CO2 into the external environment. For the blood in the capillaries, it is then moved into pulmonary veins and make

    Read More

  • Investigating the Effect of Exercise on the Heart Rate

    1112 Words  | 3 Pages

    the aortic valve, between the left ventricle and the aorta. heart_chambers.jpg Each valve has a set of "flaps" (also called leaflets or cusps). The mitral valve normally has two flaps; the others have three flaps. Dark bluish blood, low in oxygen, flows back to the heart after circulating through the body. It returns to the heart through veins and enters the right atrium.

    Read More

  • The Respiratory System

    1528 Words  | 4 Pages

    To explain normal functioning of the respiratory system, it is best to know that the respiratory system in human beings is comprised of the upper respiratory tract that consists of the nasal passages, pharynx and the larynx. The lower respiratory tract is composed of the trachea, the primary bronchi and the lungs. The primary function of the respiratory system is to supply oxygen to the blood in the body. Oxygen is delivered to all parts of the body. The respiratory system does this while breathing is taking place. During the process of breathing, one inhales oxygen and exhales carbon dioxide. This exchange of gases within the thoracic cavity takes place at the alveoli within the body (Grant, 2004). The average adult's lungs contain about 600 million of these air-filled sacs that are surrounded by capillaries (Grant, 2004). The inhaled oxygen passes into and through the alveoli and is diffused through the capillaries into the arterial blood. Meanwhile, the waste-rich blood from the veins releases the carbon dioxide into the alveoli. The carb...

    Read More

  • Persuasive Speech: Everyone Should Donate Blood

    718 Words  | 2 Pages

    II. Imagine your little nephew or niece baby was born with a heart defect and required daily transfusions of blood in order to have a chance at survival.

    Read More

More about Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome

Open Document