Pulmonary Atresia

While you’re pregnant, your healthcare provider will do standard screenings to check on the health of the fetus. If they see something of concern on an ultrasound (using harmless sound waves), they can do a fetal echocardiogram. This also uses sound waves to get a closer look at the fetal heart.

After you have your baby, their healthcare provider will check their heart and lungs to find out if there are any problems. If they hear a heart murmur through a stethoscope, they’ll order tests that may include:

• Pulse oximetry: This noninvasive test tells how much oxygen is in your baby’s blood.
• Chest X-ray: An imaging method that uses painless X-rays to get a picture of the inside of your baby’s chest from the outside.
• Electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG): A painless and noninvasive way to measure the electrical activity of your baby’s heart to find out if there’s any stress on their heart muscle.
• Echocardiogram: A painless, noninvasive imaging method. It uses harmless sound waves to produce a moving picture of your baby’s heart and heart valves.
• Cardiac catheterization: An invasive procedure that lets a provider view your baby’s heart. They insert a small, flexible tube into a blood vessel in your baby’s groin. They move it through to the inside of their heart. They may use contrast dye to make a stronger image of your child’s heart and its valves.