Congenital Heart Defects: Medical History and Physical Exam
When determining whether your baby has a
congenital heart defect, the doctor will
ask questions about your baby's medical history and your medical history. And your baby will have a physical exam.1
Medical history
Questions include the following:
- What symptoms does your baby have?
- When are symptoms usually present? Symptoms may be present only
when your baby is eating or crying.
- Has your baby been less active
than usual?
- How is your baby's appetite? How much does your baby
usually eat and drink? Describe a typical feeding. Does he or she have trouble
feeding or tire easily while feeding?
- Has your baby been urinating
less often than usual?
- Does your baby's color change when he or she is crying?
If so, does the color quickly return to normal after crying stops?
- What position does he or she seem most comfortable in when
resting?
- Has your baby ever passed out? If the child is older: Has
your child ever complained of his or her heart beating in a strange way?
- Did you have
or were you exposed to rubella (German measles) or any other infections during
your pregnancy?
- Did you take any medicines, use illegal drugs, or
drink alcohol during your pregnancy?
- Do you have a family history
of congenital heart defects?
Physical exam
The doctor
will:
- Check your child's weight and length.
- Check your child's heart rate and blood pressure.
- Listen to your child's heart and lungs with a stethoscope to
detect whether a
heart murmur is present. A heart murmur can be normal
in children but should be checked by a doctor.
- Check
your child's heart rate (pulses) on the neck, wrist, legs, and feet.
- Check your child's nail beds, lips, and skin for a bluish tint
(cyanosis) and/or
clubbing. Your doctor may also check the
amount of oxygen in your child's blood with an
oximeter.
- Look at the skin over the blood
vessels in the neck to see whether the vessels bulge. This may happen if the
heart is weak (heart failure).
- Look at and feel your
child's belly to check for an enlarged liver. The liver may be enlarged in
children who have heart failure.
References
Citations
Brown DW, Fulton DR (2011). Congenital heart disease in children and adolescents. In V Fuster et al., eds., Hurst's The Heart, 13th ed., pp. 1827–1883. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Credits
| By | Healthwise Staff |
| Primary Medical Reviewer | John Pope, MD - Pediatrics |
| Specialist Medical Reviewer | Larry A. Latson, MD - Pediatric Cardiology |
| Last Revised | October 11, 2011 |