Introduction to General Clinical Assessment
As discussed earlier, there are three main ways CHD may present to the ED:
- Cyanosis
- Heart failure
- Collapse and shock
Infants may present to the ED with features of cardiovascular collapse due to non-cardiac causes as well. It is important to remember other causes of cardiorespiratory compromise. In particular, it is often difficult to differentiate CHD from pulmonary disease or sepsis in the newborn.
Learning Bite
Always include CHD in the differential diagnosis of any critically ill newborn or infant.