Atrial septal aneurysm is considered the most common among small heart abnormalities. It represents a specific inflection of the septum, which is located between the left and right atria in the place where its thinning is greatest.
Description of this pathology
This variety of structural pathologies of the heart does not always pose a danger to life and health and is, as a rule, a congenital anomaly in the development of the human heart muscle. Nevertheless, in order for this anomaly not to progress and cause complications, constant monitoring of the development of the disease is necessary, as well as timely diagnosis. The main complication in this case is the danger of severe thinning and its complete rupture, which in some cases of special severity causes the formation of blood clots and impaired blood circulation.
Why does an atrial septal aneurysm occur in adults?
Causes of the disease
Today, medical science does not reliably know the main reasons for the development of this heart abnormality, therefore it is safe to say that such a disease can occur in a person at any period of his life, including during intrauterine development. Nevertheless, experts focus on two factors leading to the formation of such a heart muscle defect. These factors are:
- Genetic predisposition. The heart is an organ whose development is strongly influenced by heredity, and it often happens that all its features are passed on to children from their parents. This also includes defects in the development of the heart that the child receives through heredity.
- Pathology of the development of connective tissue. This disorder is also called tissue dysplasia, which can affect the formation of fibrous structures, as well as connective fluid. Dysplasia of this kind externally represents atypical bends in many organs and systems of the body. Such a violation can be congenital, since it is most often provoked by intrauterine infections and other causes.
- There is also another factor that is much less common than the others, but you must specify it. The cause of the formation of an aneurysm of the septum of the heart may be the late overgrowth of its deferred part, which occurs due to other specific pathologies in the cardiovascular system.
Symptoms of the disease
At the initial stages of the occurrence of an atrial septal aneurysm, complaints are usually absent in patients, and this pathology is most often detected when passing certain diagnostic measures, being detected completely by accident. When listening to the heart rhythm, the doctor in this case observes a slight systolic murmur, which can increase during exercise, while also recording tachycardia and heavy breathing. The presence of interatrial aneurysm can be suspected in cases where the patient has the following health problems:
- With the normal functioning of the immune system, viral respiratory infections are common.
- Reduced person’s weight.
- Poorly tolerated physical activity.
- In children, a slowdown in development.
- With visual observation, you can notice signs of protrusion of the heart over the surface of the sternum.
Symptoms of an atrial septal aneurysm are rather unpleasant.
The absence of obvious signs with this pathology
The indicated pathology, not burdened by blood discharge, is usually less pronounced, and if there are no prerequisites for the development of complications, the aneurysm may not bother the patient throughout life. If, however, a hole begins to form in this region of the heart, even if its size is insignificant, there may be a violation of the blood flow through the heart when a certain amount of blood begins to discharge from the left to the right atrium. If an aneurysm of another septum of the heart chambers, interventricular, is diagnosed, this also negatively affects blood circulation, which greatly increases the stress experienced by the heart.
Aneurysm of the atrial septum can cause the development of dangerous diseases such as pulmonary hypertension, as well as hypertrophy of the right atrium and ventricle. Symptoms of such pathological processes can be severe shortness of breath and a feeling of heaviness in the chest, which patients observe, as a rule, after physical overstrain.
Worsening situation with age
The condition of the interatrial septum can worsen with age, as well as in the presence of poor environmental conditions, bad habits, malnutrition and many other factors that negatively affect human health. Symptoms of aneurysm between the atria become more pronounced and manifest as:
- pain in the left side of the chest wall of a wandering nature;
- decreased performance, severe fatigue;
- shortness of breath, shortness of breath.
In cases of rupture of the interatrial septum or in cases of acute course of the disease in adults, severe unbearable pain in the heart is possible, as well as significant drops in blood pressure.
Diagnostic methods for determining the ailment
Atrial septal aneurysm is usually diagnosed easily using modern ultrasound studies with dopplerography, which allow you to study in detail the structure of the heart muscle, as well as the operation of all heart valves and to evaluate the size of protrusion of the atrial septum.
Ultrasound scan
In addition to ultrasound of the heart, it is advisable to use the following diagnostic measures, which together allow a detailed study of the clinical picture of such anomalies:
- initial examination by a cardiologist, who without fail measures blood pressure and pulse;
- laboratory blood tests, as well as all kinds of serological tests for infections;
- X-ray examination of the chest, tracking failures in the respiratory system;
- electrocardiography, which allows you to identify certain abnormalities and failures in the pulsation of the heart;
- Holter monitoring with a detailed description of symptoms, which allows you to reliably determine the causes of the development of significant disturbances in the functioning of the heart in dynamics.
Other diagnostic methods
In addition to the above methods for diagnosing the heart muscle and its functions, if there are suspicions of other pathologies and abnormalities of the atrial septal aneurysm in adults, even more serious medical measures can be prescribed, many of which are invasive:
- catheterization of the heart;
- penetration into the esophagus by ultrasound devices;
- magnetic resonance or computed tomography.
What is the treatment for atrial septal aneurysm?
Effective Therapies
Having decided on what aneurysm is, it is necessary to pay attention to how to treat such pathological formations with traditional means, as well as preventive measures in order to reduce the danger and risks of developing unpleasant symptoms of the anomaly.
In the early stages of the disease, as well as with the standard clinical picture of the disease, as a rule, atrial aneurysm is not particularly dangerous, and in this case, patients do not need medical or surgical treatment. However, in those situations when a person is tormented by unpleasant symptoms of a general nature and frequent ailments, therapeutic procedures involve the use of the following types of drugs:
- Vitamins and all necessary trace elements, which, in particular, are indispensable for the normal functioning of the heart muscle. They are potassium and magnesium, as well as B vitamins, which are able to enrich the blood with oxygen.
- Medications that affect the regulation of heart rhythm during tachycardia attacks and heart rhythm disturbances during atrial septal aneurysm ICD I25.3.
- Sedative and sedative drugs.
- Blood thinning medications that are recommended for pulmonary hypertension.
Surgical intervention
If a significant discharge of blood flow and abnormalities in the work of some parts of the heart in adults is detected, doctors can recommend surgical methods for resolving this problem. With a significant destruction or rupture of the atrial aneurysm, patients are usually prescribed an operation to introduce a special artificial septum into the heart, which is completely safe and perfectly replaces the natural one.
Possible complications of aneurysms of the cardiac septum
Aneurysms of the interatrial septum ICD 10 I25.3. do not pose a significant threat to people's lives even when a break in this barrier occurs. Specialists boldly assure patients that the pressure in both atria is low enough to cause a potential rupture, therefore, this complication is unlikely. Nevertheless, even rupture of the interatrial septum and mixing of blood flows cannot significantly affect the functioning of the cardiovascular system as a whole. A serious danger can only be a severe form of rupture of the aneurysm, when there are other pathological disorders in the patient’s heart muscle or other diseases that can aggravate a person’s physical condition. Thus, in rare cases, the occurrence of circulatory disorders of the brain is possible, as well as in these situations, strokes are likely when there is a clear tendency to form blood clots.
In general, registering with a cardiologist and undergoing annual diagnostic procedures, in particular, ultrasound diagnostics of the heart, are quite sufficient measures to prevent complications of the atrial septal aneurysm (ICD code is indicated in the article) and to ensure the health of a person with a similar congenital or acquired anomaly.
What you need to know about interatrial aneurysm?
This anomaly in the development of the heart is a very tricky disease that can not manifest itself for a long time, but have a significant impact on the quality of life of the patient throughout its duration. At the initial stages, such a heart disease is very difficult to diagnose, since it is most often asymptomatic.
Is an atrial septal aneurysm dangerous in a newborn?
Varieties of pathology
There are several types of atrial septal deformity:
- Protrusion of the atrial aneurysm to the left.
- Bulging aneurysm to the right.
- S-shaped deformation.
One of the physiological foundations for the formation of an aneurysm of the interatrial septum of the heart is the presence of a “window” in the child, who is still in the womb, of an oval shape. This "window" should be closed in newborns after birth, but the walls at the place of its closure are never compacted and are a very vulnerable area. In cases of high blood pressure, the compression on it increases, as a result of which this part of the septum begins to stretch and protrude to the side - thus, the development of atrial septal aneurysm in children begins.
Complications
The main complications of aneurysm of the septum of the heart is its rupture, which has no fatal consequences. However, the curvature of the septum can cause negative consequences in the work of the heart, as well as a chronic form of heart failure. In addition, there is a risk of the formation of blood clots in the aneurysm cavity (embolus), which can come off, causing strokes. Embolism occurs most often with sagging of the interatrial septum by more than 5-7 mm. Thrombus formation, therefore, is the most dangerous consequence of aneurysms not only in the heart, but also in the vessels.