Open oval window in newborns

According to the results of ultrasound diagnostics carried out during infancy, the doctor can put the child diagnosed as an "open oval window". It is a heart defect in which the communication between the atria continues, which is one of the stages of intrauterine development. The physiological closure of the oval window by means of a valve in a newborn child occurs at the time of birth, when it makes its first independent breath. However, the oval window can still remain open until the fifth day of the child's life, and it is also considered the norm (more than 40% of children have an open oval window in the first week of life). If it continues to remain open, then as the child grows, it can close itself in the second half of the child's first year of life. But this does not always happen.

What is dangerous open oval window in children?

There are two points of view on the problem of the presence of an oval window in a newborn child. Some doctors consider this a norm of development, which does not affect the further life of a person. Others hold the view that such a heart defect can endanger human life and contribute to the development of paradoxical embolism, hypoxemic conditions.

Reasons for an open oval window

Such a developmental defect is often found in premature newborns . Having been born before the term, the heart system did not manage to complete its development in such children, as a result of which the pathology of the development of the heart is noted in the form of an oval open window.

Also, the oval window can be a congenital malformation that was formed at the stage of intrauterine development under the influence of pathogenic factors during pregnancy of a woman:

Open oval window in newborns: symptoms

In the case of a diagnosis, as a rule, there are no signs of an open oval window, it is extremely problematic to suspect the presence of such a diagnosis externally. However, there are a number of features that may indicate the possible presence of such a heart defect:

Open oval window: treatment

To select the best treatment for heart disease, it is necessary to monitor the baby dynamically with an echo cardiogram test to track the size of the oval window. If there is a tendency to decrease in size, then, as a rule, no special treatment is required. However, if changes in size are noted, then an open oval window requires surgical intervention: an endovascular transcatheter closing operation is performed using a special device. If the operation is not performed on time, the infant may have a discharge of blood from one atrium to another. In the future, when the septum of the oval window is not inflated, emboli (paradoxical embolism) feeding the cerebral cortex can enter the vessels. Subsequently, bacterial complications may occur.

If a newborn child has other cardiovascular malformations (for example, an aneurysm of the interatrial septum), then the risk of complications is more likely. In this case, surgery to close the oval window is designed to improve the heart.