Griffan
03-12-2009, 05:08 PM
Hey everyone! Long time, no post...I'm not sure whether this is the best place to put this or not, so feel free to move it, if needed....
Hello! This is my first post on these boards. I'm curious if anyone on here has had a child with a PDA defect into their toddler years? My daughter was born at 36 wks, 5 days - 2 days shy of full term. She was born with a small hole in her heart. She just turned 2 on February 15th, and this morning we had her 2 year follow-up with the cardiologist. He performed an EKG and an echocardiogram, which showed that the hole has pretty much closed on its own, to the point that there is no further concerns with it. It also showed, however, that her PDA has not closed. We were told that this usually closes within 72 hours after birth, and that it is pretty rare for it to close on its own after 6 months of age. This defect carries a small risk of infection, that can be a pain to treat. The most current research as to the risk of infection is from the 60s and 70s, and, although somewhat controversial, showed that the risk of infection increases by 1% with each year of life. They can't tell, however, which patients are at risk, so it is generally recommended to correct the defect. There is a simple catheter procedure that can be done to place a coil which corrects the defect, but involves the risk of infection and anesthesia. The cardiologist basically said it is up to us to decide whether we want to do the procedure now, or wait another 2 years and hope that, while unlikely, the defect will repair itself without medical intervention. He recommended waiting, but I'm curious if anyone has any experience with this? If the chances are really low of it correcting itself, and she'll have to have the procedure anyway, would it make sense to just get it over with now?
Sorry for the long post, I guess to quickly summarize, I'm just curious if anyone has had a toddler with this condition repair itself, or gone through this procedure? I really appreciate any input anyone may be able to give me!
Hello! This is my first post on these boards. I'm curious if anyone on here has had a child with a PDA defect into their toddler years? My daughter was born at 36 wks, 5 days - 2 days shy of full term. She was born with a small hole in her heart. She just turned 2 on February 15th, and this morning we had her 2 year follow-up with the cardiologist. He performed an EKG and an echocardiogram, which showed that the hole has pretty much closed on its own, to the point that there is no further concerns with it. It also showed, however, that her PDA has not closed. We were told that this usually closes within 72 hours after birth, and that it is pretty rare for it to close on its own after 6 months of age. This defect carries a small risk of infection, that can be a pain to treat. The most current research as to the risk of infection is from the 60s and 70s, and, although somewhat controversial, showed that the risk of infection increases by 1% with each year of life. They can't tell, however, which patients are at risk, so it is generally recommended to correct the defect. There is a simple catheter procedure that can be done to place a coil which corrects the defect, but involves the risk of infection and anesthesia. The cardiologist basically said it is up to us to decide whether we want to do the procedure now, or wait another 2 years and hope that, while unlikely, the defect will repair itself without medical intervention. He recommended waiting, but I'm curious if anyone has any experience with this? If the chances are really low of it correcting itself, and she'll have to have the procedure anyway, would it make sense to just get it over with now?
Sorry for the long post, I guess to quickly summarize, I'm just curious if anyone has had a toddler with this condition repair itself, or gone through this procedure? I really appreciate any input anyone may be able to give me!