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Posted 7/12/2006 3:46 AM (GMT -8)
hi, my 12 year old son has a congenital heart defect and recently they discovered his left coronary artery is underdeveloped. the thallium stress test showed his heart isn't getting the blood supply it needs during exercise. he's had to take it easy and we're hoping teh arteries will grow. something new has started and i'm not sure how serious it is. when he was singing in church on sunday he got very breathless and felt like he couldn't catch his breath or get enough air to sing. he was fine once he stopped but complained for part of the day that his chest felt funny, cloudy (no idea what that means and he could never give me a better description).

 

since then, he noticed that if he's singing along to the radio, he gets that same breathless feeling. last night his brother was telling him jokes and he was laughing pretty long. he again got very breathless and was panting, like he had just been running around. i'm going to call the cardiologist today, but wondered if anyone else has experienced this and if it's something to worry about.

 

thanks!

Posted 7/12/2006 4:46 AM (GMT -8)
Hi Luanne

Shortness of breath (SOB) is a common symptom of ischemic heart disease/CHF. It is also a symptom of pulmonary edema (PE), or fluid on the lungs, not necessarily associated with ischemic heart disease/CHF.

PE can be a result of pulmonary hypertension which can be caused by right side heart failure and/or regurgitant blood flow (backward blood flow) past the mitral or tricuspid valves.

I would report this to his doctors asap.

Rj
Posted 7/12/2006 5:49 AM (GMT -8)
Hi Luanne,  I am so sorry your son is sick, that must be so hard to watch him go through this and feel helpless at the same time.  I often get SOB when I am active or even when I am engaged in a conversation with someone, or standing for too long.  But I have an autonomic disorder that has caused my heart problems.  Please let us know what the doctor says,  Your both in our thoughts.  Take care
Posted 7/12/2006 6:29 AM (GMT -8)

thank you rj and elisha. i heard back from the card's office, but they were just clarifying what the problem was and said they'd pull his chart and someone would be getting back to me. nick has several valve issues, but he's had 4 caths this year so hopefully they would have noticed any problems there. he does have a cadaver valve in the pulmonary spot that they are watching closely. so far it's doing ok. and he had a stent in his right coronary artery because it was kinked (a problem with placement after his third open heart). 

i'll let you know what he says. thanks for your replys.

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