Answer:
Poor eating, which leads to poor growth.
Sweating with crying or eating.
Persistent fast breathing or breathlessness.
Easy tiring.
Rapid heart rate.
Explanation:
While still in the mother's womb, a baby does not need their lungs to supply oxygen because they receive oxygen from their mother. Since a baby's lungs do not provide oxygen, there is no need for the heart to pump blood to the lungs. The ductus arteriosus is a blood vessel that is present in all babies while still in the womb, and it allows blood to bypass the lungs.
When the baby is born and the umbilical cord is cut, their lungs need to supply oxygen to their body. Their lungs expand, their blood vessels relax to accept more blood flow, and the ductus arteriosus usually closes within the first hours of life. Sometimes, the ductus arteriosus does not close on its own. This is known as a patent ("open") ductus arteriosus. While this condition is seen more often in premature babies, it may also appear in full-term infants.
The symptoms of a patent ductus arteriosus depend on the size of the ductus and how much blood flow it carries. After birth, if a ductus arteriosus is present, blood will flow from the aorta (the main artery in the body) into the pulmonary artery. This extra blood flow into the lungs can overload the lungs and put more burden on the heart to pump this extra blood. Some babies may need more support from a ventilator and have symptoms of congestive heart failure.
A newborn with a patent ductus arteriosus may have:
Fast breathing
A hard time breathing
More respiratory infections
Tire more easily
Poor growth
However, if the patent ductus arteriosus is not large, it may cause no symptoms and your doctor may not find it until they do further evaluation of a heart murmur.
Even if there are no symptoms, the turbulent flow of blood through the patent ductus arteriosus puts a person at a higher risk for a serious infection, known as endocarditis
