Truncus Arteriosus 1

On September 12, 2007 my nephew - Daniel - was born through a normal delivery. His new born tests showed that he was a healthy boy. My sister and her husband were so happy to have him. But on Daniel's third week, my sister noticed an irregular breathing which she assumed as an ordinary cough. They brought Daniel to the doctor and they were advised to have him X-rayed. The following day, they brought Daniel to the hospital and had his X-ray. The next day, upon getting the results of the X-ray, they were told to see a pediatric doctor specializing in cardiology.

They began having doubts and fears about his condition. When the cardiologist saw the result of his X-ray, they were anguished to find out about Daniel's condition. After that, they went to the Philippine Heart Center for more examinations. His 2D echo clearly showed the he had TRUNCUS ARTERIOSUS 1. That time, he was the third infant diagnosed by the Philippine Heart Center who had that rare congenital heart condition. Truncus arteriosus occurs in less than one out of every 10,000 live births. It makes up 1 percent of all cases of congenital heart disease.

My sister and her husband really cried hard that day and the days after. Acceptance came a few weeks later. It was too difficult for them to believe that a pregnancy as healthy as hers would result to a congenital disease. They have been waiting for Baby Daniel.

We further learned that this condition could not be detected by the new born screening tests. It would only manifest three weeks after birth. True enough, it was Daniel's third week when we discovered that he had Truncus Arteriosus 1.


The doctor's explained to us that there are really no clear cut symptoms or causes to detect this kind of congenital heart condition. As with most forms of congenital heart disease, the causes of truncus arteriosus are unknown. In experimental animal models, truncus arteriosus has been linked to abnormal development of cells from the neural crest that normally inhabit the outflow region of the developing heart. Up to now, the doctors can not really pinpoint the exact culprits. In addition, the information I saw from Lucile Packard Children's Hospital's website also have the same views.

" Some congenital heart defects may have a genetic link, either occurring due to a defect in a gene, a chromosome abnormality, or environmental exposure, causing heart problems to occur more often in certain families. Other times this heart defect occurs sporadically (by chance), with no clear reason for its development."

How does this condition affect babies like Daniel? The following are the most common symptoms of truncus arteriosus. However, each child may experience symptoms differently. Symptoms may include:

• cyanosis
• fatigue
• sweating
• pale skin
• cool skin
• rapid breathing
• heavy breathing
• rapid heart rate
• congested breathing
• disinterested in feeding, or tiring while feeding
• poor weight gain
  

And Daniel had experienced all of these things.


thelma