Whats is POTS? POTS is a syndrome (a combination of different symptoms) caused by a malfunction of the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system is a complicated network of nerves that controls some vital bodily functions and which works in an automatic mode out of our voluntary control. For example when we stand up…
What is Kawasaki disease Kawasaki disease is a condition where the body develops an inflammation of the small and medium sized arteries of the bodies. To explain what an inflammation is, it is fair to compare it to a burn, where the area affected becomes tender, swollen, red and hot. This inflammation causes a weakening…
What is a heart palpitation? Heart palpitation is the feeling a person has that the heart is beating fast or irregularly. Sometimes children report a missing heart beat feeling (lasting for only a second or a few seconds) or the feeling that the heart is beating faster (and sometimes stronger) than it should in conditions…
What is bicuspid aortic valve? A bicuspid aortic valve is the most common form of congenital heart disease (CHD) and is thought to affect 1 to 2 in a 100 people. It consists in an anomaly of the aortic valve, which represents the outlet valve from the left sided pumping chamber (the left ventricle). The…
Pulmonary stenosis is a narrowing of the pulmonary valve. This means the right ventricle has to work harder to pump blue blood into the pulmonary artery and so to the lungs to pick up oxygen. Pulmonary valve stenosis: symptoms, causes and diagnosis What is a pulmonary valve stenosis? It is a condition where the pulmonary…
Tetralogy of Fallot: symptoms, causes, treatment and repair Tetralogy of Fallot is a condition where there is a narrowing in the blood flow from the right ventricle to the lungs, as a consequence of thick muscle underneath the pulmonary valve and a small pulmonary valve. There is also a VSD (hole between the pumping chambers)…