What are the most common heart diseases in children? How do you know if your child has heart problems? Does congenital heart disease go away?
Heart disease in children is different than it is in adults, and it's important to understand how it affects our kids, how to prevent it, and how to treat it if your child does develop a heart condition.
If you're a parent, you probably know that heart disease is a serious issue for adults. But did you know that it's also a risk for children?
In this article, we will discuss what causes heart disease in children and how to recognise the symptoms if your child starts showing them. We'll also give you some tips on how to help prevent the condition from occurring in the first place.
What Are the Most Common Heart Diseases in Children?
A child's heart develops throughout their childhood, but it's also vulnerable to several conditions. Some conditions, like heart murmurs and infections, can be treated with medication and lifestyle changes. Other conditions, like congenital heart defects (CHD) require surgery or other forms of intervention.
According to Healthline, here are the most common heart diseases in children, and how they're treated:
Kawasaki disease
Kawasaki disease is an inflammatory disease of the blood vessels that affects children younger than 5 years old. A virus causes it, but the symptoms can be treated with medications and steroids.
The most common symptoms of Kawasaki disease include a high fever that lasts longer than 5 days, red eyes, swollen lymph nodes in the neck, and redness of the hands and feet.
The disease can lead to heart problems like aneurysms or coronary artery stenosis. It may also cause inflammation of the coronary arteries, which could lead to abnormal heart rhythms or even death. If your child has symptoms of Kawasaki disease, see your doctor immediately.
Heart murmurs
Heart murmurs are a common heart disease in children. A heart murmur is a sound that can be heard when your child's heart beats. There are many heart murmurs, and some are nothing to worry about. Others could be a sign of a serious problem.
Heart murmurs happen when blood flows through the heart’s chambers at different speeds, causing turbulence in the flow of blood and noise to be heard as it passes through the valves. This can happen for some reasons:
- A narrowing or blockage in the artery
- Too much fluid in the lungs or elsewhere around the body causes extra pressure on the heart
- A hole between two chambers (atrial septal defect)
- A hole between two chambers (ventricular septal defect)
Rheumatic heart disease
Rheumatic heart disease is a serious condition in which the heart muscle and valves are damaged by inflammation. The inflammation can be caused by bacteria or other germs, such as strep throat.
The condition usually affects children under the age of 15, but it can also occur in adults who have had rheumatic fever as children. In about half of the people who have rheumatic fever, there's a chance that their heart will not recover fully from the damage caused by the disease.
If you have rheumatic heart disease, you may experience chest pain and shortness of breath during physical activity or exertion. You may also feel tired or weak because of your condition. However, these symptoms don't always occur immediately after developing rheumatic fever because they often take several years.
Arrhythmias
Arrhythmias are a group of conditions that affect the heart's rhythm. Genetic defects, heart attacks, or electrolyte imbalances can cause them.
Moreover, arrhythmias are a group of conditions that affect the heart's electrical signals and can cause irregular heartbeats. When your heart beats too quickly or slowly, it's called an arrhythmia.
When you have an arrhythmia, your heart beats too fast, too slow, or irregularly. It happens when the electrical signals that tell your heart to beat don't work well.
Arrhythmias can be dangerous if they get worse over time because they make your heart work harder than it should and can cause blood clots to form in your heart. Talk to your doctor if you have an arrhythmia.
It's important to know the symptoms and how to treat them because some arrhythmias can be life-threatening.
If you notice your child having any of these symptoms, call your doctor immediately:
- Chest pain or discomfort
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Dizziness or fainting
Cardiomyopathy
Cardiomyopathy is a disease that affects the heart muscle, causing it to weaken and not pump blood as well as it should. A viral infection, high blood pressure, or genetic factors can cause it.
Children with cardiomyopathy may experience symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest pain, fainting spells, or rapid heartbeat. If your child has these symptoms, you should take him or her to see his or her doctor right away.
Pericarditis
Pericarditis is a disease that affects the pericardium, the lining of the heart and its surrounding structures. It can be acute or chronic, and it can affect children as well as adults. The most common cause of pericarditis is a viral infection or inflammation.
The symptoms of pericarditis include chest pain, fever, cough and difficulty breathing (dyspnea). The pain can sometimes be severe enough to require hospitalisation. In case of any of these symptoms, parents should immediately call their child's doctor for an appointment.
Atherosclerosis
Atherosclerosis is a disease in which plaque builds up inside the arteries. This thickens and narrows the artery, which can cause blood clots to form and block blood flow.
The condition most commonly affects the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle, leading to chest pain (angina), shortness of breath, or a heart attack.
Children with atherosclerosis may have the following:
- Elevated cholesterol levels
- High blood pressure (hypertension)
- Abnormal electrocardiogram (EKG) results
Viral infections
Viral infections can cause heart disease in children because they weaken the immune system, allowing viruses and bacteria that the body's defences would normally eliminate to grow unchecked. This can lead to inflammation and swelling, damaging blood vessels throughout the body, including those leading into or out of your child's heart.
Congenital heart disease
Congenital heart disease is a defect in the heart or its valves that occurs before birth. It can be mild or severe and may require surgery.
Most congenital heart defects are identified during pregnancy through prenatal ultrasound, though some may not be diagnosed until after birth or later in childhood or adulthood.
The Most Common Congenital Heart Diseases in Children
Congenital heart disease is the term for various defects in the heart's structure, including the valves and chambers. These defects can cause problems with blood flow throughout the body, ranging from mild to severe.
This guide will explain the most common types of congenital heart disease in children:
Heart Valve Disorders
These are formed when an obstruction to blood flows through one of the valves in your child's heart. These defects can be mild or severe depending on how much blood flow they affect. They may also cause other issues, such as abnormal growths known as tumours or inflammation (carditis).
Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome
Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome is one of the most common congenital heart defects in children. It occurs when the left ventricle is underdeveloped, which can lead to problems with blood flow in the body.
Children with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome often have other heart defects, including aortic valve stenosis or a bicuspid aortic valve. They may also have pulmonary hypertension, which can cause poor growth and development, as well as heart failure.
Ventricular Septal Defect
Ventricular septal defect is a hole in the wall that separates the heart's upper chambers (the atria) from the lower chambers (the ventricles). It causes blood to flow from one side of the heart to the other, leading to heart failure, fluid in the lungs and other complications.
Ventricular septal defect occurs when there are insufficient muscle cells in this wall between the two sides of the heart.
The muscle wall is supposed to be there to help separate oxygen-rich blood from oxygen-poor blood before it reaches your lungs for reoxygenation. Without it, oxygenated and deoxygenated blood mix together and create pulmonary hypertension, which causes shortness of breath and heart failure.
Patent Ductus Arteriosus
The ductus arteriosus connects the pulmonary artery to the aorta and allows blood from the lungs to reach the rest of the body without going through your child's lungs. In most newborns, it closes shortly after they are born. However, if it does not close on its own, it can lead to serious health problems.
Atrial Septal Defect
An atrial septal defect (ASD) is a hole between the heart's upper chambers (atria), which allows oxygen-rich blood to leak from the left atrium into the right atrium. This extra blood flow can increase pressure in your lungs and cause shortness of breath and fatigue.
In adults, ASD may not cause symptoms and may go undetected for many years. In children, however, ASDs can cause problems such as blockage of blood flow through the lungs, heart failure, and pulmonary hypertension (high blood pressure in the arteries leading to your lungs).
Tetralogy of Fallot
Tetralogy of Fallot is a rare congenital heart defect that occurs when a baby's heart has four defects at birth. The most common symptom is cyanosis, when a child's skin colour turns bluish because there isn't enough oxygen in the blood. Other symptoms include shortness of breath and rapid breathing (tachypnea).
Tetralogy of Fallot usually requires surgery to repair the heart defects.
Symptoms of Heart Problems in Children
Heart problems or heart disease in children can be scary, but they're not always easy to spot. A child's heart is still developing, so some symptoms are common and some that aren't.
If you notice any of these symptoms in your child, speak with your doctor right away:
- Major changes in activity level or sleep patterns
- Lethargy (feeling like they're dragging)
- Not eating well or losing weight without trying to lose weight
- A rapid heartbeat (tachycardia)
- An abnormally fast breathing rate (tachypnea)
- Fatigue or shortness of breath
- Frequent chest pain or discomfort
- Swelling in one or both legs, especially in the calf area
- Fainting
What Causes Heart Disease in Children?
Heart disease in children is a scary prospect. But it's important to know what the causes are, so you can help your child avoid heart disease.
There are three main categories of causes:
- Genetic factors: If your child has a family history of heart disease, there may be a genetic predisposition to it.
- Environmental factors: These include things like smoking and high blood pressure during pregnancy.
- Diet and exercise habits: Your child may be more likely to develop heart disease if they eat an unhealthy diet or don't exercise regularly.
Heart disease in children is a serious thing. It's important to bring your child to their regular checkups even if they are not experiencing any symptoms to prevent complications.
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