Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD)
Ventricular Septal Defects (VSD): This is a hole (defect) in the wall (septum) between the two pumping chambers (ventricles). These defects are usually noticed early in life. Very small holes make very loud noises (think of poking a small hole in a taught water balloon) because the ventricles pump at high pressure.
The amount of difficulty caused by the VSD is, once again, dependent upon the size of the defect. If there is a lot of blood being forced across a large hole, or many tiny holes, there is more difficulty for the patient.
Once again, blue blood enters the right heart and is pumped out into the lungs as previously explained. The red blood returns to the left heart from the lungs, but as it comes into the high-pressured LV, some of the blood meant to be pumped out to the body is forced across the VSD into the RV. There the extra blood is pumped out to the lungs. Over time, the lungs see more blood volume than they should, and the body sees less oxygen rich blood than it should.
These sorts of defects are generally closed by surgery if they are big enough to cause problems. Tiny holes are often left untouched, as they are not harmful. Some institutions are closing select VSD s in the cardiac catheterization lab.
