Patent Ductus Arteriosus | Symptoms & Causes
What are the symptoms of patent ductus arteriosus?
The size of the patent ductus arteriosus will affect the type of symptoms, the severity of symptoms and when they occur.
A child with a small patent ductus might not have any symptoms, and your child's doctor may only discover the defect by hearing a heart murmur.
Babies with a larger patent ductus may have the following symptoms:
- fatigue
- sweating
- rapid breathing
- heavy breathing
- congested breathing
- disinterest in feeding or tiring while feeding
- poor weight gain
What are the causes of patent ductus arteriosus?
Almost all children have a small connection between the aorta and pulmonary artery at birth. It is not known why some children have a connection that doesn’t close.
