Information on Heart Murmurs, Holes in Heart, VSD?

I had the same problem with my daughter when she was that young. The doctor wasn't that concern about it and I was but when we went and had x-rays done that doctor told me that she may out grow it when she gets older. So far we haven't had a problem with it. The only thing that has happened is that last March she got real sick and ended up with that RSV stuff. That was more frighting then the hole in the heart. At least to me it was.
Feel free to send me a message back if you would like.
I hope this helps you a little bit.
A.

My son was born w/ ASV and VSD. (2 holes) They noticed this immediately at the hospital and did an Echocardiogram before we left. If they are just now hearing this the hole it is probably really small. My doctor said it is very common and majority of kids grow out of it or live with it and have no limitations.

At the cardiologist appt. they will do an ecocardiogram, which is basically an ultrasound...non-invasive and they can measure how big it is. They will probably do an EKG as well. Totally all non-invasive stuff. Take a bottle and let him be just a little hungry. They need to be really still for the ecocardiogram and feeding is the easiest way.

My son later developed Pulmonic Stenosis (narrowing of the Pulmonary Valve), but the holes have slowly been getting smaller (one has acutally closed already).

I wouldn't let it get you upset because you will find out when you go to the Cardiologist that you are blessed to have a son in such good condition (there are so many sick babies)!!!

I understand the concern, make the appointment, get it checked out and you'll fell better!

If your son does have VSD the only difference between him and other kids is that he will probably have to have a shot of antibiotics before any surgeries, dental work, ect.. for infection purposes.

I assure you that if this was really bad, he would have failure to thrive (eating problems, low weight, lathargic, ect..) that would have showed up by now!!

I would just pray of the murmur to be healed and thank God for giving you such a beautiful baby boy!!

God Bless!

My son has a mild to moderate VSD we found out the day after he was born because the murmur was so loud. They say the louder it is the smaller the hole. Either way I was devastated. Well he is two months old and we have gone to quite a few appt. with his cardiologist and to be honest with you I feel so much better. I believe she is at KU med center in Kansas city or overland park not sure her name is Dr.Parthaban. She is excellent. She told us that in general these VSD's close by themselves and the only thing you should worry about is if he isn't eating or his breathing. OF course when she told me about his breathing all I could do was stare at him breath and it became a source of stress if he was breathing to fast etc... It is something very scary to hear about but from what I understand a VSD is the most common condition and like I said usually they close on their own. Just become informed on what it is watch out for the symptoms, do go to a doctor so they can let you know how big it is. But be calm. Stressing out isn't going to close the VSD any faster. I have had to learn that on my own believe me. There are days where I still freak out but you just have become informed and relax.
Hope this helps and if their is anything I can help you with at least with an ear let me know because I am going through the exact same thing :)

My daughter, and my oldest son, had the very same thing. My daughter is now 10 and my son is 15. On occasion the heart murmur is still evident, but usually only when she is sick and running a fever. She has a condition known as Stickler Syndrome, which can also cause heart defects, so she has been seen by a cardiologist on a regular basis. The VSD closed all on its own. She, luckily, is not showing any signs of heart problems with Sticklers either. I know it's scary, but don't worry too much. If there was great concern by the doc, you would have been referred immediately. By the way, the docs and all the staff at Children's Mercy South and downtown are wonderful. We have spent more time there than we care to admit. I know it's hard not to worry when they're so little and helpless, but follow-up with the cardiologist and try to take a breath.

If I were you I would have it checked but do not worry too much until you are told you really need to. My husband is 25 years old and had a small hole in his heart, just like your son seems to have. It is not a problem at all for him and can only be detected by a doctor or when he is laying down. It never affected his school, life, or sports, etc. So your son may just have a small one like this that really will not be a big deal and may not even need further treatment. So do not panic until you have real reason to do so. See what the cardiologist says first. Hope this helps a little with the nerves :)
B.

Hi L.,
My name is J.. I have three kids, 5 year old son a 2 1/2 year old daughter and a 1 1/2 daughter. My youngest was born with a heart condition called SVT (supraventriculartachacardia). They found it when I was 24 weeks pregnant. I spent a week on the OU's High risk floor and they also found two holes in her heart one had already closed up by the time I had her but the other one was still there. The SVT cause her heart rate to sky rocket. When they found it, it was at 297 bpm. She is on heart medicine and see's the cardio doctor at OU childrens Mercy South they are wonderful. I know it is scary, trust me I know but your baby is going to be I just know he will be. They will take good care of him. If you need anyone to talk to you about this you can email me at ____@____.com Blessings, J.

L.,

Try not to panic just yet. My brother and his wife had a doctor tell them the same thing about my nephew at around the same age. They were in a terrible state until the cardiologist at Childrens Mercy told them that there was not a problem at all.

Heart murmurs are very hard to diagnios with a stethescope, which is why he is sending you on for further testing. The folks a Cildren's Mercy were great and after checking my nephew thouroghly they gave him a clean bill of health. He is now almost 4 and has never had to have any kind of surgery.

J.

Hi there L.,

my son who is now 2 also had a heart murmor and a small hole in his heart. we also took him to Childrens and they ran various tests. the hole was of no concern they stated most children are born with a small hole, and the murmur was functional. My son has had no more problems with this. Dont worry yourself i know i did and after it was all over and they told me he was going to be fine and live a totally functional life i was still a little nervious. But now he is a typical two year "busy" boy. You would never be able to tell there was a possible issue with his heart =) Hang in there!

C.

it does sound scarry i know i am 31 and have a neice who is 12 with a heart murmur just make sure you see all the speciallist you need to see and watch his activity play you and him both will know if it is too stranious i havent hear of anyone dying from it yet just keep and eye on him and keep seeing the doctor.

L.,
My son's doctor heard a heart murmur at his 2 month check up and immediatly sent us to Children's (downtown). the doctors there did an EKG and a Heart Echo (ultrasound of the heart) they confirmed that he did indeed have a Large to Moderate VSD. We had to put him on Medicine (digoxin and another one I can't remember) and I also had to add "human milk fortifer" to my breast milk to help him gain weight. We did all of this for 3 almost 4 months until he was almost 6 months old then he had open heart surgery to repair the hole. we were in the hospital for a little less then a week and then came home. He has been doing great since then. He has gained weight and is slowly catching up. he's still a little behind in his speech but we have a speech pathologist from Sooner Start come out twice a month to work with him. He's 2 years old now and we go back to the Cardiologist (Dr.Baker) once a year. Our next checkup is in FEB. If you have any questions please feel free to ask I know it is really hard to go through all of this.

I took my son in to the doctor for an infected toenail. During the examination they found a heart murmur. He was 9 yrs old then. We went to the cardiologist and after several painless tests they said he had a faulty heart valve. Being a MOM, I panicked. How would I deal with life without my baby? I decided to protect him. I would not let him run, jump, or have much fun, because I was scared. After the next visit to the cardiologist my son complained to the doctor. I was informed that he is a heathly boy and this could correct itself with exercise.

He will be 13 in two days and has not had any problems. I kick myself for overreacting and realize that I put myself through a lot of needless worry. Love and cherish you child and ask lots of questions from the doctor.

With out medicine, and using exercise my son has strengthened his valve and now only sees the doctor every 18 months. Good luck and if you need to talk I am here. just drop me a line.

My Step-Son has VSD. When he was a few months old he did have MAJOR problems, but his hole was 9mm at birth, that is big. My Husband said that he did almost die from Congestive Heart Failure, but remember, he had a large hole for an infant. He is now 17, and no problems, the hole was 3mm in 6th grade. He has played soccer and football, and is very healthy looking. Is your child taking any medications to strengthen his heart beat or anything like that, Tom was on Lanoxin for awhile, but now, nothing. Never any problems with immunizations. Whenever he would go in for dental work/cleaning, get medical attention for any kind of injury, or any surgeries, he would have a round of antibiotics(precautionary). This is because since the heart was already weak, any kind of infection would try to attack his heart first. Don't worry so much, especially if you trust your doctor. Before any surgery may be mentioned, get a 2nd and 3rd opinion...this saved our guy from surgery. When things get scary, do research adn explain things to him, even at a young age. When Tom was 3 he was terrified of the x-ray machine, and getting an ECHOCARIDGRAM. I explained his "Special Dr." needed special pictures of his insides...the x-ray would show still pictures and the ECHOCARIDGRAM would show the Movie Picture...and his heart was a movie star. His fear was relieved and never any further problems. Take a DEEP breath...do research...and get more opinions before agreeing to surgery.
I do hope this has helped you.

Later Tater
T. N.
P.S. My son was angry to learn he could not be in the Navy like his dad was, but as far as we know if you have or had a murmur you cannot go to the military.

Hi L.,

My daughter was born with VSD. I was pretty scared at first but all the dr.s seemed so calm and not worried. It is actually more common than you know. Most of the time the murmur is caught at birth and it has to close on its own, there's really nothing that can be done about it and it doesn't cause any problems. The hole "normally" closes within a few months of birth. My daughter's didn't close until she was close to a year old. It didn't complicate anything, I didn't have to treat any differently than the normal way you treat a perfectly healthy baby, and there was no medication. Over time it will close, and if it doesn't there is not much to worry about. I think the only thing the dr.s told me it would hinder was playing sports when she got older. But as I said the hole closed and Bella will be free to do whatever she wants actively:) My email is ____@____.com if you have any questions. My daughter's cardiologist was Dr. Martin O'Laughlin at St. Luke's South, he's a great man and I highly recommend him!

My daughter who is 6 months next week has VSD. We took her to the pediatric cardiologist because to our knowledge she had 2 small holes at birth. She was also born with Down syndrome so it was kinda something that went hand in hand we were told. Anyhow, when we went to the cardiologist they do an ultrasound of the heart and an EKG where they put little sticky things all over thier chests kind of like the little moniters that they do right when they are born to check everything. Thru all that stuff they can tell how big the hole is. And sometimes they do end up closing on thier own and that is why your pediatrician wasn't too nervous. My daughter ended up with one hole closing and the VSD is VERY small that they can barely hear it so they think it will finish closing. The only thing we have to worry about is if she was to need some kind of dental surgery or tubes in her ears. Anything thats a surgery we have a piece of paper to carry with us that says she has VSD and needs an antibiotic before the surgery. Try not to worry to much. He will be ok!!!! Good luck at the cardiologist and let me know how things go. I hope some of this helped!

my daughter wuz born with a heart murmer. There are alot of children with this problem. A lot of the times the child will out grow it I mean it will close by itself. But you do need to be in contact with your heart doctor and just monitor it. So do not panic that much. I know that is hard cause you love your child. If you have any ???? for me please feel free to ask. I have been threw it and other medical things as well. Good luck also there are lots of great doctors at OKlahoma city Childrens medical center I do not care that much for the hospitals and doctors at Tulsa bad exsperinces. but I have delt with Childrens at Oklahoma city and they are great. thankyou

Hi, I don't know how much help I will be, but I'll give it a shot. My name is D.. I'm 41 years old. I too was born with a hole in my heart. Because I was so small, they had to wait until I was about 6 or 7 years old to do my surgery. Until I had my surgery, I was put on strict restrictions. You know, I couldn't climb a tree or run to much. Things like that. After the surgery, I did still have a slight heart murmer. Just in the last 5 years I've had to be put on heart medication for an irregular heart beat. I have lived a very good life without anymore heart problems since my surgery all those years ago. Surgery has came a very long ways since back then. I'm sure that your son will come through with flying colors just like I have. He is sure lucky at one thing. He won't have the ugly scar I have! lol If you should want to talk more, feel free to email me back at: ____@____.com I'll be glad to help if I can.
D.

I was born with a heart murmur, and another heart problem called a break in the electrical valve. My heart murmur finally went away when I was about 16 years old, I never had any surgery or anything, it just went away on it's own. The doctor told my parents that there was a very good chance that I would just grow out of it and I did. I wouldn't worry too much about anything that will happen. You can live a long time with heart problems and not even know you have them. I didn't get diagnosed with my other heart problem until I was 21 and about 8 months pregnant with my daughter, and after she was born I had to have surgery for my heart and it went perfectly fine so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

hi there..not sure if this will help but I wanted to let you know that my 10yr old had a heart murmur when he was born. We had him checked again at 6months and it was gone all on it's own. We only dealt with the murmur so I am unsure about the other problem you are having. Anyway just wanted to let you know that much.

L., I just wanted to let you know that I'm keeping your family in my thoughts and prayers. I can't imagine what you are going through, but I can say prayers of comfort for you all. I hope things turn out well. Please rememeber that God never gives you more than you can deal with. Most of the things we go through are to make us stronger and bring us closer to God. Keep praying and I'll do the same. God bless you all, S.

I know you've gotten a lot of advice from people that have lived through this with their own children. The best I can tell you is that my husband was born with the same sort of thing. He had 2 holes when he was born. The doctors basically said that the holes could close up on their own, so it was a wait and see kind of thing. By the time he was 2, one hole had closed up, but the other one needed to be fixed. They performed open heart surgery on him and everything went fine. Now the doctor's can't even find a murmur, and the last EKG they did didn't even pinpoint where the plug is. The only thing he has to watch out for is infections in his mouth because it can go straight to the material they used to plug the hole and deteriorate it, which just means that he takes some amoxycillin before he goes to the dentist. So, I wouldn't worry too much. I'm sure it's scary to hear that something is wrong with your baby, but doctors know so much these days and are able to fix so much, that I'm sure everything will turn out alright. Hang in there!

L.,

My sister was born with the same problem. Basically, all babies have this when they are in the womb and it closes up on its own before delivery - normally.

However, for some, it may take a little bit longer - especially if the child was premature or induced. Even if its past their due date, they could still be premature in this area. My sister was 4 days past her due date. My other sister and I went to 3-4 weeks past our due date and had no problems. Taller people should carry their babies slightly longer, and shorter people slightly less.

With my sister, the hole closed up on its own before her first birthday, which is a good thing. If it goes away on its own before their first birthday, it doesn't affect your insurance! (or at least didn't in 1980) I hope your son's does the same and closes up on its own very soon.

However, I would definitely follow your doctor's advice and take him to the cardiologist, but I wouldn't panic.

My youngest daughter was born with a heart murmer. She had a small hole in a ventrical. She grew out of it and all was fine. She is 4 now and we never had any problems. They will do a lot of tests when you go to the children's hospital to determine the size of the hole. When I went with Sophie they let me listen to what the murmur sounds like. You will feel better after you go. Hopefully, your little boy grows out of his too.

when i was a child i had vsd also. i am now 22 years old and it is fine. the hole is gone it closed up when i was about 4 or 5. the only thing i can tell u is just watch his breathing because that is how i got asthma but that is the only thing that happened to me. i hope i helped to ease ur mind a lil bit.

I have a 6 month old son with a heart murmur, and I'm told that most of they time they will "outgrow" it. If your doc says that you need to visit a cardiologist, you should, but remember that worrying just makes things harder on you and everyone around you including your baby. Relax, I know it's hard, but as I said, most of the time (according to my dr.), a murmur will fix itself, no surgery/worry required. Sometimes it hereditary and should be expected. In my husband's family, the eldest child ALWAYS has a murmur, and they get over it without surgery.

Does your family history or your husband's family history have a heart murmur problem in it? This may be useful information for the cardiologist, and should be found out before the appointment if at all possible. I wish you the best of luck! My heart goes out to you!!

L.,
I hope that things turn out well for you,and I am sure it will.My son Dalton was born with 2 holes in his heart.an asd and vsd.asd is atrial septal defect..at 4 months of age he had both holes repaired and no complications.My son also had down syndrome.his surgery was november 11 of 1999.Sometimes they dont even do surgery on them they close on their own alot of times.He will have to have an echo and they will go from there.Dont get too upset,you just have to wait and see what the doctors say.
My son however wasnt so lucky,he developed pulmonary hypertension,which always leads to death,tho no one told us that we had to read it on the internet.He died April 9th of 2003.he was 3 years and 9 months old.

Hi L. -

My nephew was born with three tiny holes in his heart. He had surgery at Children's Mercy (Downtown). It was a very difficult thing to go through, however, he is now a very happy and healthy 4yr old. He still goes to a cardiologist once every 6 months for check ups, and will always take medicine. It was amazing watching the transition in his activity level - a little hole does make a difference! Good luck to you and your son!

I feel for you. I know how scary the wait is. My pediatrician heard my son's heart murmer before we had even left the hospital when he was born. We were also advised to go to the cardiologist. Now, let me say that a lot of kids are born with small holes and don't need any work done. My son, however, had a larger condition (Tetrology of Fallot) and had to have heart surgery at 4 months old. He is now 5 yrs old with no problems at all. He is running around like any other Kindergardener. Children's Hospital has a fantastic cardiologist department. Dr. Knottcraig, who preformed our surgery, is one of the leading children's cardiologists in the country. So, try to keep calm and remember that chances are, it is not a big deal. And if something does need to be done, you are in good hands and you can make it throught it. Lean on your friends and family; there are those who love you and will be with you.

Hi L.,

My daughter also had a similar situation with her heart. She had TGA, transposition of the greater arteries as well as VSD. Has your son seen a cardiologist before or is that the appt. you will be making? Let me know and I will be will be glad to be of any assistance in providing information from our experience. My daughter has done very well with her condition.

L.;

Don't panic, relax hun. I have lived my whole life so far with a heart murmer just like your son's. Your son can live a full normal life running, jumping doing all the things kids love to do. His pediatrician didn't overly concerned for a reason, people live with heart murmers all the time. Trust him.
Good ahead and see the cardiologist at Children's Mercy South, but very honestly there is no need to panic.

I Know you have gotten alot of responses to this, and my heart goes out to you. I was born with all of this. I went to regular cardiology appointments as a child, and by the time I was 5, the holes had closed up on their own, i still have a heart murmur which i don't even notice. I do have to take medicine before Dental appointments. I have had no physical limitations because of these problems. I am now 24 years old and married with 2 children of my own and luckily I have not passed either problem on to my children. I know technology and medicine has drastically improved since i was an infant so i have no doubt that your son is in the best care and things will turn out great. I know my mom was in a panic when she found out about me, but we made it through it just fine and I have faith that you will too. I had some amazing doctors and the best thing about the pediatric cardiologists is they aren't doctors for the money or because its something to do, they are pediatric doctors because they truly love children. Not once going to a doctor was I ever scared or felt insecure about being there or felt like my life was in the hands of someone inexperienced. I felt like they truely cared about my life and myself as a person. The doctors will do whatever they can to make the parents feel at ease with the situation and if you have questions all you have to do is ask. I hope any of this helps put your mind at ease as much as it can. i know as a mom myself, i would probably panic if someone told me there was something wrong with my child, whether i knew anyone that had gone through it or not, but you are in my thoughts and prayers!

Did you decide to immunize or not? Email me - ____@____.com
~R.