A VSD can be detected by cardiac auscultation. Classically, a VSD causes a pathognomonic holo- or pansystolic murmur. Auscultation is generally considered sufficient for detecting a significant VSD. The murmur depends on the abnormal flow of blood from the left ventricle, through the VSD, to the right ventricle. If there is not much difference in pressure between the left and right ventricles, then the flow of blood through the VSD will not be very great and the VSD may be silent. This situation occurs a) in the fetus (when the right and left ventricular pressures are essentially equal), b) for a short time after birth (before the right ventricular pressure has decreased), and c) as a late complication of unrepaired VSD. Confirmation of cardiac auscultation can be obtained by non-invasive cardiac ultrasound (echocardiography). To more accurately measure ventricular pressures, cardiac catheterization, can be performed.

Although there are several classifications for VSD, the most accepted and unified classification is that of Congenital Heart Surgery Nomenclature and Database Project.

The classification is based on the location of the VSD on the right ventricular surface of the inter ventricular septum and is as follows:

Sometimes CHD improves without treatment. Other defects are so small that they do not require any treatment. Most of the time CHD is serious and requires surgery and/or medications. Medications include diuretics, which aid the body in eliminating water, salts, and digoxin for strengthening the contraction of the heart. This slows the heartbeat and removes some fluid from tissues. Some defects require surgical procedures to restore circulation back to normal and in some cases, multiple surgeries are needed.

Interventional cardiology now offers patients minimally invasive alternatives to surgery for some patients. The Melody Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve (TPV), approved in Europe in 2006 and in the U.S. in 2010 under a Humanitarian Device Exemption (HDE), is designed to treat congenital heart disease patients with a dysfunctional conduit in their right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT). The RVOT is the connection between the heart and lungs; once blood reaches the lungs, it is enriched with oxygen before being pumped to the rest of the body. Transcatheter pulmonary valve technology provides a less-invasive means to extend the life of a failed RVOT conduit and is designed to allow physicians to deliver a replacement pulmonary valve via a catheter through the patient’s blood vessels.

Most patients require lifelong specialized cardiac care, first with a pediatric cardiologist and later with an adult congenital cardiologist. There are more than 1.8 million adults living with congenital heart defects.

A number of classification systems exist for congenital heart defects. In 2000 the International Congenital Heart Surgery Nomenclature was developed to provide a generic classification system.

The Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) recommends surgical intervention for these indications:

- Limited exercise capacity (NYHA III-IV)

- Increasing heart size (cardiothoracic ratio greater than 65%)

- Important cyanosis (resting oxygen saturation less than 90% - level B)

- Severe tricuspid regurgitation with symptoms

- Transient ischemic attack or stroke

The CCS further recommends patients who require operation for Ebstein's anomaly should be operated on by congenital heart surgeons who have substantial specific experience and success with this operation. Every effort should be made to preserve the native tricuspid valve.

Ebstein's cardiophysiology typically presents as an (antidromic) AV reentrant tachycardia with associated pre-excitation. In this setting, the preferred medication treatment agent is procainamide. Since AV-blockade may promote conduction over the accessory pathway, drugs such as beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, and digoxin are contraindicated.

If atrial fibrillation with pre-excitation occurs, treatment options include procainamide, flecainide, propafenone, dofetilide, and ibutilide, since these medications slow conduction in the accessory pathway causing the tachycardia and should be administered before considering electrical cardioversion. Intravenous amiodarone may also convert atrial fibrillation and/or slow the ventricular response.

Left to right shunting heart defects include:

- Ventricular septal defect (VSD) (30% of all congenital heart defects)

- Atrial septal defect (ASD)

- Atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD)

- Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA)

- Previously, Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) was listed as acyanotic but in actuality it can be cyanotic due to pulmonary hypertension resulting from the high pressure aorta pumping blood into the pulmonary trunk, which then results in damage to the lungs which can then result in pulmonary hypertension as well as shunting of blood back to the right ventricle. This consequently results in less oxygenation of blood due to alveolar damage as well as oxygenated blood shunting back to the right side of the heart, not allowing the oxygenated blood to pass through the pulmonary vein and back to the left atrium.

- (Edit - this is called Eisenmenger's syndrome and can occur with Atrial septal defect and ventricular septal defect as well (actually more common in ASD and VSD) therefore PDA can still be listed as acyanotic as, acutely, it is)

Others:

- levo-Transposition of the great arteries (l-TGA)

Acyanotic heart defects without shunting include:

- Pulmonary stenosis (a narrowing of the pulmonary valve)

- Aortic stenosis

- Coarctation of the aorta

An acyanotic heart defect, also known as non-cyanotic heart defect, is a class of congenital heart defects. In these, blood is shunted (flows) from the left side of the heart to the right side of the heart due to a structural defect (hole) in the interventricular septum. People often retain normal levels of oxyhemoglobin saturation in systemic circulation.

This term is outdated, because a person with an acyanotic heart defect may show cyanosis (turn blue due to insufficient oxygen in the blood).

Aortopulmonary septal defect is a rare congenital heart disorder accounting for only 0.1-0.3% of congenital heart defects worldwide. It is characterized by a communication between the aortic and pulmonary arteries, with preservation of two normal semilunar valves. It is the result of an incomplete separation of the aorticopulmonary trunk that normally occurs in early fetal development with formation of the spiral septum. Aortopulmonary septal defects occur in isolation in about half of cases, the remainder are associated with more complex heart abnormalities.

There are numerous types, differentiated by the extent of the defect. These types are:

- Type I: simple defects leading to communication between the ascending aorta and pulmonic trunk

- Type II: defects that extend to the origin of the right pulmonary artery

- Type III: anomalous origin of the right pulmonary artery from the ascending aorta

It is also classified as simple or complex. Simple defects are those that do not require surgical repair, occur with no other defects, or those that require minor stright-forward repair (ductus arteriosus, atrial septal defect). Complex defects are those that occur with other anatomical anomalies or require non-standard repair.

Patients who are diagnosed with AAOCA at or before age 30 years are eligible for this study. They should have otherwise normal heart or only minor defects such as Atrial septal defect, Ventricular septal defect, Patent ductus arteriosus, bicuspid aortic valve, mild pulmonary stenosis etc.

Patients who have other major heart problems that require operations are currently not included in this Cohort study. Any other problems with coronary arteries are also not included.

The cause of development for cardiac fibroma is still unknown or unexplained. Some of these cases are observed to be linked to Gorlin syndrome; a complex genetic disorder causing the formation of tumors in various parts of the body. Research is currently being undertaken to identify relevant casual factors. Currently, there are no known methods for preventing cardiac fibroma.

The AAOCA is a rare birth defect in the heart that occurs when a coronary artery arises from the wrong location on the main blood vessel, the aorta.

Children and young adults with these defects can die suddenly, especially during or just after exercise. In fact, AAOCA is the second leading cause of sudden cardiac death in children and adolescents in the United States behind hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The prevalence is estimated at 0.1% to 0.3% of the general population. Neither the true risk of sudden death nor the best way to treat these patients is known with certainty. Because of the risk of sudden death, doctors face the pressure to “do something” but in the absence of long-term follow-up data, the risks and benefits of different management options are unconfirmed. This study will create a pool of information that may guide future choice of treatment options for these children and young adults.

This study will be ongoing for 15 years. It is expected that approximately 1000 patients will be enrolled.

This funding to start the registry was provided by The Children's Heart Foundation, The Cardiac Center at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and from CHSS member institutions.

The following tests and exams are taken to diagnose Cardiac fibroma:

1. Family medical history and thorough physical examination that includes examination of the heart. Close attention to abnormal heart sounds is important.

2. Echocardiography: Most valuable diagnosis because this can evaluate the morphology, location and range of the tumor. Also, it can access the degree of blood flow obstruction caused by tumor.

3. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and computed tomography CT scan of the heart

4. Electrocardiogram (EKG): this is used to measure electrical activity of the heart and to detect arrhythmias.

5. Electrophysiological studies of an individuals heart to determine where arrhythmia is generated in the heart.

6. Doppler ultrasound to measure the speed and direction of blood flow from sound waves.

7. Tissue biopsy: a pathologist may examine the biopsy under a microscope to suggest a definitive diagnosis. This is considered a gold standard in arriving to a conclusive diagnosis. Biopsy specimens are studied by using Hematoxylin and Eosin staining.

Cor triatriatum (or triatrial heart) is a congenital heart defect where the left atrium (cor triatriatum sinistrum) or right atrium (cor triatriatum dextrum) is subdivided by a thin membrane, resulting in three atrial chambers (hence the name).

Cor triatriatum represents 0.1% of all congenital cardiac malformations and may be associated with other cardiac defects in as many as 50% of cases. The membrane may be complete or may contain one or more fenestrations of varying size.

Cor triatrium sinistrum is more common. In this defect there is typically a proximal chamber that receives the pulmonic veins and a distal (true) chamber located more anteriorly where it empties into the mitral valve. The membrane that separates the atrium into two parts varies significantly in size and shape. It may appear similar to a diaphragm or be funnel-shaped, bandlike, entirely intact (imperforate) or contain one or more openings (fenestrations) ranging from small, restrictive-type to large and widely open.

In the pediatric population, this anomaly may be associated with major congenital cardiac lesions such as tetralogy of Fallot, double outlet right ventricle, coarctation of the aorta, partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection, persistent left superior vena cava with unroofed coronary sinus, ventricular septal defect, atrioventricular septal (endocardial cushion) defect, and common atrioventricular canal. Rarely, asplenia or polysplenia has been reported in these patients.

In the adult, cor triatriatum is frequently an isolated finding.

Cor triatriatum dextrum is extremely rare and results from the complete persistence of the right sinus valve of the embryonic heart. The membrane divides the right atrium into a proximal (upper) and a distal (lower) chamber. The upper chamber receives the venous blood from both vena cavae and the lower chamber is in contact with the tricuspid valve and the right atrial appendage.

The natural history of this defect depends on the size of the communicating orifice between the upper and lower atrial chambers. If the communicating orifice is small, the patient is critically ill and may succumb at a young age (usually during infancy) to congestive heart failure and pulmonary edema. If the connection is larger, patients may present in childhood or young adulthood with a clinical picture similar to that of mitral stenosis. Cor triatriatum may also be an incidental finding when it is nonobstructive.

The disorder can be treated surgically by removing the membrane dividing the atrium.

Crisscross heart is a type of congenital heart defect where the right atrium is closely associated with the left ventricle in space, and the left atrium is closely associated with the right ventricle.

Although it is classified as a defect, the criss-cross is more of a spatial anomaly than a functional one, and it is possible for the heart to have relatively normal functioning.

Heart valve dysplasia is a congenital heart defect which affects the aortic, pulmonary, mitral, and tricuspid heart valves. Dysplasia of the mitral and tricuspid valves can cause leakage of blood or stenosis.

Dysplasia of the mitral and tricuspid valves - also known as the atrioventricular (AV) valves - can appear as thickened, shortened, or notched valves. The chordae tendinae can be fused or thickened. The papillary muscles can be enlarged or atrophied. The cause is unknown, but genetics play a large role. Dogs and cats with tricuspid valve dysplasia often also have an open foramen ovale, an atrial septal defect, or inflammation of the right atrial epicardium. In dogs, tricuspid valve dysplasia can be similar to Ebstein's anomaly in humans.

Mitral valve stenosis is one of the most common congenital heart defects in cats. In dogs, it is most commonly found in Great Danes, German Shepherd Dogs, Bull Terriers, Golden Retrievers, Newfoundlands, and Mastiffs. Tricuspid valve dysplasia is most common in the Old English Sheepdog, German Shepherd Dog, Weimaraner, Labrador Retriever, Great Pyrenees, and sometimes the Papillon. It is inherited in the Labrador Retriever.

The disease and symptoms are similar to progression of acquired valve disease in older dogs. Valve leakage leads to heart enlargement, arrhythmias, and congestive heart failure. Heart valve dysplasia can be tolerated for years or progress to heart failure in the first year of life. Diagnosis is with an echocardiogram. The prognosis is poor with significant heart enlargement.

Taussig–Bing syndrome (after Helen B. Taussig and Richard Bing) is a cyanotic congenital heart defect in which the patient has both double outlet right ventricle (DORV) and subpulmonic ventricular septal defect (VSD).

In DORV, instead of the normal situation where blood from the left ventricle (LV) flows out to the aorta and blood from the right ventricle (RV) flows out to the pulmonary artery, both aorta and pulmonary artery are connected to the RV, and the only path for blood from the LV is across the VSD. When the VSD is subpulmonic (sitting just below the pulmonary artery), the LV blood then flows preferentially to the pulmonary artery. Then the RV blood, by default, flows mainly to the aorta.

The clinical manifestations of a Taussig-Bing anomaly, therefore, are much like those of dextro-Transposition of the great arteries (but the surgical repair is different). It can be corrected surgically also with the arterial switch operation (ASO).

It is managed with Rastelli procedure.

Echocardiography and Tissue Doppler echocardiography are both needed to fully diagnose the different types of ventricular dyssynchrony.

Prenatal Diagnosis:

- Aymé, "et al." (1989) reported prenatal diagnosis of Fryns syndrome by sonography between 24 and 27 weeks.

- Manouvrier-Hanu et al. (1996) described the prenatal diagnosis of Fryns syndrome by ultrasonographic detection of diaphragmatic hernia and cystic hygroma. The diagnosis was confirmed after termination of the pregnancy. The fetus also had 2 erupted incisors; natal teeth had not been mentioned in other cases of Fryns syndrome.

Differential Diagnosis:

- McPherson et al. (1993) noted the phenotypic overlap between Fryns syndrome and the Pallister–Killian syndrome (601803), which is a dysmorphic syndrome with tissue-specific mosaicism of tetrasomy 12p.

- Veldman et al. (2002) discussed the differentiation between Fryns syndrome and Pallister–Killian syndrome, noting that differentiation is important to genetic counseling because Fryns syndrome is an autosomal recessive disorder and Pallister–Killian syndrome is usually a sporadic chromosomal aberration. However, discrimination may be difficult due to the phenotypic similarity. In fact, in some infants with 'coarse face,' acral hypoplasia, and internal anomalies, the initial diagnosis of Fryns syndrome had to be changed because mosaicism of isochromosome 12p was detected in fibroblast cultures or kidney tissue. Although congenital diaphragmatic hernia is a common finding in both syndromes, bilateral congenital diaphragmatic hernia had been reported only in patients with Fryns syndrome until the report of the patient with Pallister–Killian syndrome by Veldman et al. (2002).

- Slavotinek (2004) reviewed the phenotypes of 52 reported cases of Fryns syndrome and reevaluated the diagnostic guidelines. She concluded that congenital diaphragmatic hernia and distal limb hypoplasia are strongly suggestive of Fryns syndrome, with other diagnostically relevant findings including pulmonary hypoplasia, craniofacial dysmorphism, polyhydramnios, and orofacial clefting. Slavotinek (2004) stated that other distinctive anomalies not mentioned in previous guidelines include ventricular dilatation or hydrocephalus, agenesis of the corpus callosum, abnormalities of the aorta, dilatation of the ureters, proximal thumbs, and broad clavicles.

Prognoses for 3C syndrome vary widely based on the specific constellation of symptoms seen in an individual. Typically, the gravity of the prognosis correlates with the severity of the cardiac abnormalities. For children with less severe cardiac abnormalities, the developmental prognosis depends on the cerebellar abnormalities that are present. Severe cerebellar hypoplasia is associated with growth and speech delays, as well as hypotonia and general growth deficiencies.

Recent studies suggest that cardiac resynchronization therapy can reduce the incidence of ventricular dyssynchrony and thus increase cardiac efficiency.

Ventricular inversion, also known as atrioventricular discordance, is a condition in which the anatomic right ventricle of the heart is on the left side of the interventricular septum and the anatomic left ventricle is on the right.

The outcome of this disease is dependent on the severity of the cardiac defects. Approximately 1 in 3 children with this diagnosis require shunting for the hydrocephaly that is often a consequence. Some children require extra assistance or therapy for delayed psychomotor and speech development, including hypotonia.

In France, Aymé, "et al." (1989) estimated the prevalence of Fryns syndrome to be 0.7 per 10,000 births based on the diagnosis of 6 cases in a series of 112,276 consecutive births (live births and perinatal deaths).