Yesterday was Leo's first visit to the cardiologist, but unfortunately not his last. It wasn't all bad news, it just wasn't news to put him totally in the "all clear" we had hoped for!
After a great EKG and echo, we found out from his cardiologist that Leo has a Patent Foramen Ovale. This means he has a hole between the top left and right chambers of the heart which has not yet closed. In some cases this area closes before birth, and in other cases it closes within the first two years of life. In yet some other cases, is doesn't close at all. Apparently it's common and most individuals who have this don't even know the hole exists as there are usually no symptoms.
The only concern, in Leo's case, is that the hole in Leo's heart is actually measuring a little larger than the typical Patent Foramen Ovale. This puts him at a small risk for problems with leaking between the two chambers, especially if the hole increases in size. Because of that, she wants to check his heart again in one year.
So we wait...
I am sorry it wasn't totally good news at the cardiologists office but at least you know the problem that is there could well correct itself and if not they can correct it as opposed to it being something he will need medication etc for his entire life.
ReplyDeleteTaylor was born with an Atrial Septal Defect which was discovered at 3 months old when the pediatrician could hear a murmer - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001210/ Just the same it normally closes by itself so the cardiologist checked everything else was normal and it was then we came back when she was 15 months old and it had closed. She's not had any problems since and didn't have any whilst the hole was there.
Hopefully Leo's year will be just as uneventful and it was close by itself.