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Congenital Heart Disease

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HEALTH AND MEDICAL 1
Congenital Heart Disease
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HEALTH AND MEDICAL 2
Patient History and Examination
Congenital heart disease is a defect in the structure of the heart that starts early at birth.
When presented with a patient suffering from the disease, some unique features might be evident
in their medical history that would confirm the condition's existence. In the patient's medical
history, the first thing to look for is whether or not the patient has previously taken an
electrocardiogram, always known as an ECG test. The test is often used to determine the
electrical activity of the heart (Hinton & Ware, 2017). Other tests to consider in the patient's
medical history include the echocardiogram, which testes the ultrasound movement of the heart.
Furthermore, it is essential to look at the chest X-rays. These are the critical areas to check in the
medical history. The above tests' presence would help the physician evaluate whether or not the
patient has a heart problem.
It is essential to look at the various body parts such as the head and the neck on the
physical examination. For the head, it is necessary to check the nostrils. Most heart defects often
stress the lungs, thus causing difficulty in breathing. Also, it is essential to examine the lip color.
In this context, blue or purple color means that the patient is experiencing low oxygen levels in
the body. In most instances, these low levels are often caused by heart failure, blood loss, or
anemia. Suppose all these physical features are present and the patient has a history of chest X-
rays and electrocardiogram. In that case, there is a greater likelihood that the patent is suffering
from congenital heart disease.
Differential Diagnosis
Differential diagnosis is when a physician differentiates between two or more conditions
behind specific symptoms being displayed by a person. Whenever doctors make a diagnosis,
they could have a single theory that helps confirm a person's symptoms. Therefore, tests are
carried out to confirm the diagnosis. For the case of congenital heart disease, the two differential
diagnoses are chest pain and stroke. In this case, it is the physician's role to check these two as
they are likely to be the primary symptoms of congenital heart disease (Zaidi & Brueckner,
2017). As for chest pains, they can cause many illnesses. When a person experiences chest pain,
they could have challenges in their heart that affect the chest. The questions about the frequency
of chest pains can help detect heart-related conditions such as cardiac arrest.
Another condition related to congenital heart disease is stroke. Therefore, it is essential to
check for any signs of a stroke, including problems with vision, reduced mental alertness,
confusion, and numbness. The two differential diagnoses were arrived at due to their close
relationship with heart diseases. These are some of the symptoms that can easily confirm the
existence of congenital heart disease. Upon evaluating the chest shows that the patient is
experiencing chest pains, it would be essential to go further and take a chest X-ray and ECG to
confirm the existence of congenital heart disease. Also, for the case of stroke, which is hard to
diagnose in most instances, it is essential to recommend that the patient also goes for an ECG
test. All these will effectively diagnose congenital heart disease and allow the physicians to give
special attention to the patient.

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HEALTH AND MEDICAL 1 Congenital Heart Disease Student’s Name: Institution: Professor: Date: HEALTH AND MEDICAL 2 Patient History and Examination Congenital heart disease is a defect in the structure of the heart that starts early at birth. When presented with a patient suffering from the disease, some unique features might be evident in their medical history that would confirm the condition's existence. In the patient's medical history, the first thing to look for is whether or not the patient has previously taken an electrocardiogram, always known as an ECG test. The test is often used to determine the electrical activity of the heart (Hinton & Ware, 2017). Other tests to consider in the patient's medical history include the echocardiogram, which testes the ultrasound movement of the heart. Furthermore, it is essential to look at the chest X-rays. These are the critical areas to ...
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