Hello and welcome to the Zero to Finals podcast.

My name is Tom and in this episode I'm going to be talking to you about congenital cardiac

conditions.

And you can find written notes on this topic at zero tofinals.com slash congenital cardiac conditions

or in the cardiothoracic surgery section of the

zero to finals surgery book. So let's get straight into it. Several congenital heart defects may

present for the first time or become worse in adulthood. The conditions we're going to cover

here are atrial septal defects, ventricular septal defects,

and co-actation of the aorta.

Other congenital heart conditions usually present and are managed in infancy or childhood.

They require follow-up and monitoring, but the defect is usually repaired by the time they're adults.

These are discussed elsewhere in the paediatrics content.

And some examples are patent ductus arteriosis, tetralogy of fallow,

Ebstein's anomaly and transposition of the great arteries.

An echocardiogram is the initial investigation of choice for

diagnosing congenital heart defects. Let's start by talking about cyanotic heart disease.

Congenital heart disease can be divided into two categories, cyanotic and asionotic.

Cyanosis occurs when deoxygenated blood enters the systemic circulation.

Cyanotic heart disease occurs when blood can bypass the pulmonary circulation and the lungs,

so it doesn't become oxygenated.

This occurs across a right-to-left shunt.

A right-to-left shunt describes any defect that allows blood to flow from the right side of the heart,

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