congenital

Patent ductus arteriosus

Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a medical condition in which the ductus arteriosus fails to close after birth: this allows a portion of oxygenated blood from the left heart to flow back to the lungs from the aorta, which has a higher blood pressure, to the , which has a lower blood pressure. Symptoms are uncommon at birth and shortly thereafter, but later in the first year of life there is often the onset of an increased work of breathing and failure to gain weight at a normal rate. With time, an uncorrected PDA usually leads to pulmonary followed by right-sided heart failure.

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Symptoms — what it feels like

·Shortness of breath, failure to thrive, , heart murmur

Causes — why it happens

How it's found

·Echocardiography, Doppler, X-ray

Prevention

· at birth, high index of suspicion in neonates at risk

Treatment

·Nonsteroidal anti- drugs (),

Complications

·Heart failure, Eisenmenger's ,

More in Heart

Coronary artery disease Heart failure Arrhythmia (atrial fibrillation)Cardiomyopathy Heart valve disease Rheumatic heart disease Congenital heart defect Heart attack Cardiac arrest Myocarditis Aortic stenosis Long QT syndrome

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Plain-language summary adapted from Wikipedia. Not medical advice.