What is tetralogy of Fallot and what is a Tet spell?
What is tetralogy of Fallot and what is a Tet spell?
One of the risks of tetralogy of Fallot is what are called tet spells. A tet spell is an episode in which a child or infant becomes extremely blue and frequently agitated and out of breath. The spell is caused by a relatively sudden decrease in blood flow to the lungs.
Are tet spells serious?
Some babies with tetralogy of Fallot have episodes called tet spells, when they suddenly turn bluish and may faint. These spells are serious. A tet spell may be caused by activities that change the pressure in your baby’s heart and increase the flow of oxygen-poor blood to their body.
Why do tet spells happen?
Tet Spells happen when blood flow to the lungs is decreased. Less blood to the lungs means that less oxygen is getting picked up in the blood. Blood with lots of oxygen is bright red, while blood with less oxygen is darker, and bluish in colour. The blood with less oxygen causes the skin to have a blue tinge to it.
What does Tet spell stand for?
Tetralogy of Fallot is a birth defect of the heart consisting of four abnormalities that results in insufficiently oxygenated blood pumped to the body. At birth, infants may not show the signs of the cyanosis but later may develop episodes of bluish skin from crying or feeding called “Tet spells”.
What is the physiology of a Tet spell?
The pathophysiology of a tet spell is a decrease in systemic vascular resistance, increasing a right to left shunt which leads to a bunch more things that all just keep increasing the right to left shunt. The key to treatment is to increase systemic vascular resistance.
Is a Tet spell an emergency?
Tet spell is an episodic central cyanosis due to total occlusion of right ventricle outflow in a patient with a congenital heart disease, such as Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). There are limited cases of patients who lived with untreated TOF until adulthood. Tet spell in an adult is rarely seen in an emergency department.
Why squat improves Tet spell?
Conclusions: Squatting diminishes the vascular distensibility and enhances the pressure wave reflection. It could improve cyanotic spells in patients with tetralogy of Fallot.
What is a pink Tet?
Infants with tetralogy of Fallot can have normal oxygen levels if the pulmonary stenosis is mild (referred to as “pink” tetralogy of Fallot). In these children, the first clue to suggest a cardiac defect is detection of a loud murmur when the infant is examined.
What is the treatment for a Tet spell?
Place infants with hypercyanotic spells in the knee-chest position and give oxygen; sometimes, opioids (morphine or fentanyl), volume expansion, sodium bicarbonate, beta-blockers (propranolol or esmolol), or phenylephrine may help. Repair surgically at 2 to 6 months or earlier if symptoms are severe.
What do you do with TET spell?
Why is morphine spelled in Tet?
The child may be given oxygen through a face mask to increase the amount of oxygen in the blood. The child may be given morphine, propranolol (or metoprolol), or, in extreme cases, phenylephrine (Alconefrin, Vicks Sinex). These medications decrease the frequency and severity of tet spells.
