An appointment was set up on 25th May for Anaqi to undergo an echocardiogram at the Cardiac Centre at KKH. After a detailed analysis, it turns out that his PD’s suspicion indeed holds true. Anaqi is diagnosed to have "moderate to large perimembranous ventricular septal defect with inlet extension (VSD), moderate atrial septal defect (ASD), high pulmonary pressure". In short, he has two holes in his heart – one in the upper chambers (atrium) and one (slighter bigger) in the lower chambers (ventricle).

Here’s a detailed graphical representation of ASD, VSD versus the normal heart.

According to KKH website library, the left atrium and ventricle is normally at a highler pressure than the right, so the defects allow blood to flow from the left to the right. Blood is shunted across and re-circulated back to the lungs. The effects of having "extra" blood flowing across into the right atrium/ventricle are:

  • ASD – The right-sided upper heart chamber (right atrium) and right-sided lower heart chamber (right ventricle) become dilated to accommodate this extra blood volume.
  • VSD – The left-sided upper heart chamber (left atrium) and left-sided lower heart chamber (left ventricle) can become dilated to accommodate the extra blood volume returning from the lungs.
  • The lungs becomes more "wet" or even become "flooded" with this extra re-circulated blood.
  • The blood pressure in the lungs increases.

The degree at which these effects occur would depend on the size of the ASD/VSD and the amount of blood that is re-circulated back to the lungs. This can range from insignificant to severe.

Here’s a graphical representation of blood flow of a heart with ASD/VSD (courtesy of KKH):

 

According to the cardiologist who did his scan, this is treatable – so this is good news! Anaqi will need to undergo periodic review to see if, over time, the holes will eventually get smaller, or if otherwise, he may need some medication to "buy time" before he’s ready to undergo surgery.

Let’s all hope for the best for the little one.