What are the causes of patent ductus arteriosus?

We should take preventive measures in our daily lives. For example, diseases like patent ductus arteriosus must be discovered and treated in a timely manner to help patients get better as soon as possible. So what are the causes of patent ductus arteriosus? Let's take a look at the introduction below.

1. Genetics is the main internal factor

What causes patent ductus arteriosus? Any factors that affect the development of the heart embryo during the fetal period may cause heart malformations, such as the pregnant mother suffering from rubella, influenza, mumps, coxsackie virus infection, diabetes, hypercalcemia, etc., the pregnant mother is exposed to radiation; the pregnant mother takes anti-cancer drugs or drugs such as tocopherol.

2. Embryology and pathogenesis

The fetal ductus arteriosus develops from the back of the sixth aortic branchial arch, forming a physiological channel between the aorta and the pulmonary artery for fetal blood circulation. During the fetal period, all alveoli are collapsed, do not contain air, and have no respiratory activity, so the pulmonary vascular resistance is very large, so most of the venous blood discharged from the right ventricle cannot enter the pulmonary circulation for oxygenation.

The ductus arteriosus was originally a normal blood flow channel between the pulmonary artery and the aorta during the fetal period. Since the lungs do not have respiratory functions at that time, the pulmonary artery blood from the right ventricle enters the descending aorta through the ductus, while the blood from the left ventricle enters the ascending aorta. Therefore, the ductus arteriosus is necessary for the special circulation mode during the embryonic period. After birth, the lungs expand and assume the function of gas exchange, and the pulmonary circulation and systemic circulation each perform their respective functions. Soon the ductus will close automatically due to disuse. If it continues to not close, it will constitute a pathological condition, which is called patent ductus arteriosus.

Surgery should be performed to interrupt the blood flow. When patent ductus arteriosus coexists with cyanotic heart disease with reduced pulmonary blood flow, the ductus is an important condition for its survival and should be considered separately. Patent ductus arteriosus is a common congenital cardiovascular malformation, accounting for 12-15% of all congenital heart diseases. The incidence of females is about twice that of males. About 10% of cases coexist with other cardiovascular malformations.

Even if the ductus is enlarged in full-term infants, symptoms will not appear until 6 to 8 weeks after birth, when pulmonary vascular resistance decreases. Premature infants have fewer smooth muscles in the pulmonary arterioles and vascular resistance decreases earlier, so they may have symptoms in the first week, often with shortness of breath, tachycardia, and acute dyspnea, which are more obvious during breastfeeding, and are more susceptible to colds, upper respiratory tract infections, pneumonia, etc.

The above is the cause of patent ductus arteriosus, I hope it can be helpful to everyone. Experts remind everyone that understanding the cause of patent ductus arteriosus can prevent the disease from the root cause. Since the cure rate of this disease is very low, if parents do not want their children to be troubled by the disease, then do a good job of prevention in normal times.