Cyanotic heart disease

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Cardiac catheterization	Clubbing	Cyanotic heart disease	Heart, front view
Heart, section through the middle

Right-to-left cardiac shunt; Right-to-left circulatory shunt

Some children may need to stay in the hospital so they can receive oxygen or be put on a breathing machine.

Medication such as digoxin, diuretics, antiarrhythmics, and prostaglandins may be prescribed.

The treatment of choice for many congenital heart diseases is surgery to repair the defect. One commonly used operation is called the Fontan procedure.

Some patients may need a permanent pacemaker.

See the specific disorder. Some of these conditions may unfortunately cause sudden death.

Complications of cyanotic heart disease include:

• Heart failure 
• Polycythemia
• Stroke
• Infectious endocarditis
• Brain abscess
• Hemoptysis   (coughing up blood)
• Impaired growth
• Pulmonary hypertension

Call your health care provider if your baby develops cyanosis (bluish skin) or if breathing seems difficult.

Review Date: 06/02/2006
Reviewed By: Alan Berger, MD, Assistant Professor, Divisions of Cardiology and Epidemiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN. Review providedby VeriMed Healthcare Network.