The portal uses cookies to provide service functions such as “Bookmark” and to improve website usage. Information and opt-out options can be found in the cookie settings in the privacy policy.

Search

Q23.4: Hypoplastic left heart syndrome

Your heart did not develop properly before you were born. This means that the left lower chamber (ventricle) of your heart is much smaller than normal.

The heart pumps blood through the body. Inside the heart are 4 chambers. There are 2 heart atria and 2 ventricles. Both heart atria and both ventricles are separated from each other by a partition. Major, important blood vessels branch out of the heart. The main artery (aorta), originating from the left lower chamber (ventricle) of the heart, supplies the whole body with oxygen-rich blood. The right ventricle pumps oxygen-poor blood through the pulmonary artery to the lungs, where the blood is then enriched with oxygen.

Blood cannot flow properly through your left ventricle. This is because the entrance or exit to the left ventricle has become very narrow or even blocked. Your right ventricle is therefore pumping most of the blood both into the lungs and into the body. This blood is a mixture of oxygen-poor and oxygen-rich blood.

This heart defect often results in an inadequate amount of oxygen flowing into the body. This makes the skin appear bluish in color. This often causes rapid breathing and feelings of weakness. The symptoms may appear shortly after birth and can quickly become life-threatening.

Additional indicator

On medical documents, the ICD code is often appended by letters that indicate the diagnostic certainty or the affected side of the body.

  • G: Confirmed diagnosis
  • V: Tentative diagnosis
  • Z: Condition after
  • A: Excluded diagnosis
  • L: Left
  • R: Right
  • B: Both sides

Further information

Note

This information is not intended for self-diagnosis and does not replace professional medical advice from a doctor. If you find an ICD code on a personal medical document, please also note the additional indicator used for diagnostic confidence.
Your doctor will assist you with any health-related questions and explain the ICD diagnosis code to you in a direct consultation if necessary.

Source

Provided by the non-profit organization “Was hab’ ich?” gemeinnützige GmbH on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG).