Hypoplastic left heart

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Heart, section through the middle

Hypoplastic left heart

Alternative Names:

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome; HLHS
Symptoms:

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Initially, a newborn with hypoplastic left heart may appear normal. Symptoms usually occur in the first few hours of life, although it may take up to a few days to develop symptoms. These symptoms may include:

Lethargy
Poor suckling and feeding
Shortness of breath
Rapid breathing
Cold extremities
Enlarged liver
Poor pulse
Pounding heart
Bluish or poor skin color
Sudden death

In healthy newborns, bluish color occurs in hands and feet as a response to cold (this reaction is called peripheral cyanosis).

However, a bluish color observed in the chest or abdomen, lips, and tongue is abnormal (called central cyanosis) because it reflects lack of adequate levels of oxygen in the blood. This is secondary to the heart malformation and circulatory malfunction. Central cyanosis often increases with crying.

Signs and tests:

A physical examination usually reveals a blue, critically ill patient who may show signs of congestive heart failure, liver enlargement, rapid breathing, and lethargy. Additionally, the pulse at various locations (wrist, groin, and others) is usually very weak.

Tests:

An ECG shows enlargement of the right ventricle of the heart.
An x-ray of the chest shows heart enlargement.
An echocardiogram for the definitive diagnosis shows the tiny left ventricle
A cardiac catheterization may be necessary in some cases to complement the echocardiogram.