Heart Failure in Children – The Causes, Signs, Symptoms and More

Yes. Heart disease can be tragic in children. There are a number of heart problems, which can affect children. Heart problems in children may include

• Congenital heart defects
• Viral infections (that affect the heart)
• Heart disease acquired due to genetic syndromes or illness

For a child to develop optimally, the heart needs to maintain the normal pump function. It is all about providing optimal blood flow throughout the body. Sad but true; often the child’s heart may not function normally. Medically; this is known as ‘heart failure’. The umbrella term “heart failure” thus refers a heart, which is not functioning properly or not working as well as it should.

Heart failure in adults occurs due to a number of reasons such as smoking, high BP, diabetes, bad heart valves, coronary artery disease etc. Believe it or not; heart failure may also occur in children, toddlers and teenagers as well. To put things simply; there are two primary causes for heart failure in children.

Let’s decode What Causes Heart Failure in Children?

Overcirculation Failure: Statistical data reveals; about 1% of all newborn infants suffer from some type of structural heart defect or other. Infants may have structural heart defects such as holes between the left and right chambers inside the heart. These holes or other blood vessel defects in the head or other parts of the body may cause mixing of the blue and red blood outside the heart. These defects can lead to over circulation failure in children where an overload of blood flow occurs in one or more of the sections of the heart.

Pump Failure: Quite like the adults, the child’s heart may also develop pump failure. Pump failure in children can be caused by coronary artery problems and also by viral infection that damages the heart muscles. Damaged electrical system of the heart may also cause the heart to beat abnormally. It is also important to mention here; children with muscular dystrophy may also develop problems with their heart muscle and in all of these situations, the heart muscle fails in functioning normally and as a result the heart becomes an inefficient pump.

Symptoms of heart failure and heart problems in children

While some older children are rather aware of what’s going inside their bodies, others are not! While some children can somewhat feel each and every abnormal heart- beat, others hardly have any sensation of arrhythmia.

Severe shortness of breath due to activity and exercise is often difficult to distinguish from asthma and may lead to heart failure in children.

Chest pain does not always indicate a cardiac condition in children; however it is always important to talk to a cardiologist if chest pain occurs with activity and exercise.

In most of the cases in infants, heart failure is typically associated with symptoms such as breathing trouble, poor growth and excessive sweating. Yes; babies may breathe faster and it may appear as if babies are panting. This is called tachypnea and this may compel the baby to use more energy. This may lead to inadequate weight gain.

When evaluating for heart problem in children it is important to have a thorough understanding and evaluation of the family history of the child as well. Talk to your doctor about any sudden death in the family or about any heart disorders, arrhythmias etc.

How Is Heart Failure Treated?

Surgery is often required to repair the congenital heart defect, which may cause overcirculation failure. Your physician may treat your child with medications to lower the blood pressure resistance, to unload the excessive volume and to improve the heart’s pump function.

Pump failure in children caused by a too slow heartbeat may require a pacemaker. A pacemaker is a small device, which helps the heart in maintaining a normal heart rate.

Pump failure, caused by a heart beating too fast may require tailored medications for controlling the heartbeat.

Often times; a specialized heart catheterization is also recommended in correcting the abnormal heart rhythm.

Heart failure may happen to children but it is not entirely a hopeless condition. As already briefed, many of the causes can be repaired. Talk to experienced cardiologist in Kolkata to ensure that proper medical care is provided.