The busy lifestyle and irregularity in food have pushed people towards many diseases today. In these diseases, a heart attack is a disease, which is typical. The heart is one of the most affecting organs in today's time owing to several reasons, internal as well as external. There exist several heart conditions that we know very little about, one of them being the pulmonary stenosis. As per Dr Sarang Gaikwad, Paediatric Cardiac Surgeon, Asian Heart Institute, Mumbai, "Pulmonary stenosis is an obstruction to the blood flow to the lungs. Normally the pulmonary artery carries deoxygenated (impure or blue) blood from the right ventricle to the lungs. This blood then gets oxygenated in the lungs and is then through the left side of the heart pumped to the entire body. Any obstruction of blood flow from the right heart to the lungs causes less amount of oxygenated in turn to reach the entire body."
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Often studies reveal that excessive stress or depression can be fatal to the heart. 'Stress' is a responsible factor for heart diseases, especially in pregnant women too. A prevalent hart condition that arises in pregnancy, pulmonary stenosis is common in infants also.
What Is Pulmonary Stenosis
He adds, "The obstruction is mostly seen at the level of the pulmonary valve, which is an interface between the pulmonary artery and the right ventricle, i.e. the right heart. The obstruction can occur below the valve Subvalvar or can also occur above the valve supravalvar or in the branch pulmonary arteries." Further, the most important here is to understand that diagnosis is an essential aspect with it comes to any heart condition as delayed treatment can lead to deaths too.
The Initial Stages Are Manageable
Mild pulmonary stenosis is well tolerated does need any active intervention but needs regular follow up with 2D Echo. Moderate to severe pulmonary stenosis needs intervention either by CATH or surgical. However, Dr Gaikwad explains that the initial symptoms of pulmonary stenosis are breathlessness during exertion. Other symptoms of pulmonary stenosis are as follows:
- Murmuring of heart, which is an abnormal sound, which can be heard only through a stethoscope
- Extreme fatigue
- Difficulty in breathing, especially after doing any tedious task
- Pain in the chest
- Fainting in extreme cases
- Prolonged severe pulmonary stenosis can cause the failure of the right heart as well
Pregnancy and Pulmonary Stenosis
Dr Gaikwad explains, "Women in childbearing age normally become symptomatic during pregnancy if they have an underlying moderate to severe pulmonary stenosis. So any breathlessness on exertion, especially during pregnancy, should be thoroughly evaluated with an echo of the heart. Prevention is better than cure, therefore having a healthy diet and regular exercise can help prevent old age-related heart diseases in the young population. Routine health checkups after age 25-30 can also aid in picking up heart ailments early and thus prevent complications later on in life."
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This condition can also be associated with other heart-related problems, which are listed below:
- Infections: People with heart valve infections have higher chances of getting infections in the inner lining of the heart.
- Heart failure: This happens when there is difficulty or inability for the right ventricle to pump. It starts with swelling in the legs and abdomen.
- Arrhythmia: Those suffering from pulmonary stenosis are more likely to have a heartbeat, which is irregular.
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