Congenital Heart Disease

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is common, affecting approximately 8 in 1000 live-born children, and encompasses a broad range of diagnoses and presentations.  CHDs can include inborn derangements in almost any aspect of the hearts structure of function, but the most common type of congenital heart disease are structural lesions of the heart that affect the normal pattern of blood flow.  These structural lesions can present with varied symptoms and physical exam signs that are rooted in their underlying blood flow patterns often lead to one of four groups of diseases based on blood flow patterns.  Overcirculation, systemic outflow obstruction, systolic failure, and cyanosis are the four groups used as descriptive classifications of structural CHD.  CHD findings can be present prenatally, in the newborn nursery, and well child office visits, but very often present to the EDs without any cardiac history when the lesion progresses to a point of crisis when the cardiac output is no longer meeting the body’s perfusion demands.  Early presentations of CHD frequently are related to closure of the ductus arteriosus and may benefit from early treatment with prostaglandin E.  Lab tests, radio