Is patent ductus arteriosus difficult to cure?

Is patent ductus arteriosus difficult to cure? The ductus arteriosus begins to functionally close 10-15 hours after birth. Most of them are closed between 2 months and 1 year old. Those that are still not closed after 1 year old are called patent ductus arteriosus. This disease poses a great threat to the health of the child. So, is patent ductus arteriosus difficult to cure?

1. Medical treatment: prevent and treat infective endocarditis, respiratory tract infection and heart failure. For premature infants with patent ductus arteriosus, 0.2-0.3 mg/kg of indomethacin or 20 mg/kg of aspirin can be taken orally 4 times a day to inhibit prostaglandin synthesis and close the ductus. For older children or adults with pulmonary hypertension, tamponade or closure agents can be injected through the catheter to block the shunt.

2. Surgical treatment: Surgery mainly involves ligation and cutting and suturing. The ideal age is 4-15 years old. If the disease progresses rapidly or there are repeated respiratory infections, heart failure, or difficult-to-control infective endocarditis, surgery should also be performed as soon as possible.

a. Ductal ligation: Suitable for most patients. The operation can be performed through the thoracic cavity or through the extrapleural space without going through the thoracic cavity.

b. Ductus arteriosus suture: It is a more reliable method of closing the ductus than ligation.

c. Ductus arteriosus suture under extracorporeal circulation: When combined with other complex malformations that need to be treated at the same time, as well as some special cases, such as aneurysmal ductus arteriosus and cases of infective endocarditis, the operation needs to be completed through a median sternotomy incision under extracorporeal circulation, deep hypothermia and low flow.

d. Video-assisted thoracoscopic ductus arteriosus closure surgery.

It can be seen from this that patent ductus arteriosus is not difficult to cure. As long as the right treatment method is found, it can be completely cured.