Birth defect of any form in a child is a source of stress to the entire family and that is why prevention of defects is better and cheaper than management or cure. But worrisome is the attitude of some people in raising funds for the surgery of these defects. Many claim outrageous health bills probably to draw sympathy or attempt to use that child's condition to make money.  It is quite amazing to read in some newspapers (not Tribune) that surgery to repair a hole in the heart will cost $4.5 million at an India hospital. This obviously cannot be true.

Truth should be our focus in helping that child. I want to encourage whoever will want to inflate bills on things like this to please have a rethink. Persons or groups engaged in this trafficking should have fear of God and only refer those cases that cannot be handled in the country. Competent cardiothoracic surgeons are available in Nigeria who can treat these children with holes in their hearts, please give them a chance. Any bill from an Indian hospital that is more than between N1.2 and N1.5m for septal defect correction has percentages added for settlement which is a ‘Nigerian language’.

After all said and done, government should rise up to the challenge and equip all our hospitals especially those that are already making efforts to establish cardiac centres. Even when the bill from an Indian hospital is not inflated, that Asian country makes a lot of money from medical tourism, with Nigeria topping the list. All hands must be on deck to change this trend. If Indians can do it, Nigerians can do better.

For some, of us that may want to know more about hole in heart, kindly read the following piece

A 6-year-old pretty girl was taken to a specialist hospital for further assessment. The parents, who were initially happy for their daughter to have gained admission into a premier school got their happiness short-lived. The pediatrician attached to the school on routine screening discovered an abnormal heart sound in the girl and she was subsequently discovered at a specialist hospital to have a hole in the heart.  She was treated and is presently doing well. The parent admitted to the fact that before detection, their daughter had always suffered from repeated chest infections, but they attributed it to dust or change in weather. Is any of your children having this repeated chest infection? Kindly see a specialist, especially a pediatrician (doctors that takes care of children).

This condition is not limited to children alone, adults too can be affected. A middle aged man in his early 50s was discovered to have a hole in the heart which he has been carrying about since birth. He consulted a cardiologist when he started experiencing efforts intolerance, and chest pain. On echocardiography testing, he was discovered to have a large hole in his heart which had remained asymptomatic since birth. He had an open heart surgery for closure of the hole. Presently, he is doing fine.

What Is Hole In The Heart? 
To understand holes in the heart, it's helpful to know how a healthy heart works.

Heart is a muscle about the size of your fist which is dependent on your body sizes. The heart works like a pump and beats on average of 70 beats per min and 100,000 times a day.

The heart has two sides (like double wings building of old with partition in between), separated by an inner wall called the septum. The right upper chamber of the heart receive oxygen -poor blood from the body system and empty it into lower chamber, which in turn pumps blood to the lungs to pick up oxygen. Then, oxygen-rich blood returns from the lungs to the left side of the heart, and the left side pumps it to the body.

The septum or partition prevents mixing of blood between the two sides of the heart. In septal defect (hole in partition) this function is lost and the blood from the left move to the right because of higher pressure thereby increasing work load on the right. This state continues until when the pressure on the right gets higher than the left and there is reverse flow from right to left. At this stage, complication has occurred and there may be permanent lungs damage if no treatment is given. There are two types of holes in the heart namely ASD (atrial septal defect which is hole in the upper chambers connecting right and left), and VSD (ventricular septal defect connecting the two lower chambers).

Some babies are born with a hole in the upper or lower septum or have both. They may have other accompanying heart defects as the case may be.

Let’s not be scared. With improvement on the diagnosis and treatment of ASDs and VSDs a child with a simple heart defect can grow to adulthood and live a normal, active, and productive life because his or her heart defect closes on its own or is repaired. For more on causes of congenital defects, join us next week. Till then, maintain a healthy heart.