Tiffaney is worried about her newborn son. Ever since she brought Caleb home fro

Question

Tiffaney is worried about her newborn son. Ever since she brought Caleb home from the hospital it has been so hard to get him to eat and he seems to be breathing hard all the time. She stopped breastfeeding and tried every formula on the market, but nothing has improved his feeding. So at his one month checkup her stomach is in knots as they place Caleb on the scale. “9 pounds 7oz” says the nurse. Tiffaney realizes Caleb has only gained one pound since he was born and she burst into tears.
In the exam room Dr. Baker checks Caleb for taking extra time feeling and listening to his chest. During the exam Tiffaney explains her struggle with trying to get her son to eat and how he cries almost the entire day. After the exam Dr. Baker says “When I listen to Caleb’s heart I hear an extra sound called a murmur. I want to use an echocardiogram and an ECG to get a good picture of all the parts of his heart.”
After a full day of tests Tiffaney meets with Dr. Baker in his office. “After a careful review of all the information I have discovered that Caleb has a hole in the heart muscle wall between his right and left ventricles. We call it a ventricular septal defect. That is probably why he has been so irritable and hard to feed. The hole is not very big but he will still need to have surgery to repair it” says Dr. Baker. Although the thought of her tiny son having surgery is terrifying Tiffaney is relieved to know why things have been so tough at home.

1. Explain how Caleb’s defect would affect systemic tissue oxygenation?

Explanation / Answer

Answer:

Ventricular septal defect (VSD) leads to mixing of oxygen-poor blood with oxygen-rich blood thus leading to higher pressure in the heart and low oxygen supply to the body. Also, VSD can result in the build of pressure in lungs thereby diminishing the flow of blood from the left ventricle through VSD to the right ventricle and to lungs. This is associated with increased pressure in the right side as well as the left side. Thus oxygen-poor blood flow from right ventricle to left ventricle through VSD ultimately leading to the poor supply of enough oxygen in the bloodstream.

Here, the newborn Caleb is facing the similar situation.

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