Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Coping and support
By Mayo Clinic staffParents of children with congenital heart defects often worry about the risks of rough play and vigorous activity even after successful treatment.
Children with small defects or a repaired hole in the heart will usually have few or no restrictions on activity or exercise. Children whose hearts have reduced pumping ability will need to follow some limits. A child with irreversible pulmonary hypertension (Eisenmenger's syndrome) has the greatest number of restrictions.
Your doctor can advise you about which activities are safe for your child. If some activities pose special dangers, encourage your child in other pursuits instead of focusing on what he or she can't do. Although every circumstance is different, remember that many children with ventricular septal defects grow up to lead healthy, productive lives.
It may also be helpful to join a support group for families of children born with heart defects. Support groups can offer practical advice and useful resources to help parents, families and caregivers find answers, connect with other families, and share their hopes and concerns with others facing similar challenges.
- What are holes in the heart? National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/holes/holes_whatare.html. Accessed Aug. 4, 2009.
- Ventricular septal defect (VSD). American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=11066. Accessed Aug. 4, 2009.
- Webb GD, et al. Congenital heart disease. In: Libby P, et al., eds. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=bookPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-4106-1..50064-9--cesec134&displayedEid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-4106-1..50064-9--cesec166&uniq=152762796&isbn=978-1-4160-4106-1#lpState=open&lpTab=contentsTab&content=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-4106-1..50064-9%3Bfrom%3Dtoc%3Btype%3DbookPage%3Bisbn%3D978-1-4160-4106-1. Accessed Aug. 4, 2009.
- Dummer KB, et al. Pathophysiology and clinical features of isolated ventricular septal defects in infants and children. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Aug. 4, 2009.
- McMackin,CJ, et al. Ventricular septal defect. In: Ferri FF. Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2009. St. Louis, Mo.: Mosby; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/152762796-4/871305879/1701/628.html#4-u1.0-B978-0-323-04134-8..50025-2--subchapter8_13432. Accessed Aug. 4, 2009.
- Congenital heart defects. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4565. Accessed Aug. 4, 2009.
- Dummer KB, et al. Management of isolated ventricular septal defects in infants and children. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Aug. 4, 2009.
- Prevention of infective endocarditis: Guidelines from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2007;116:1736.
- Genetic counseling for adults with congenital heart disease. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=11083. Accessed Aug. 20, 2009.
