Pediatric heart failure

Children's heart failure can develop very quickly. Therefore, at the first symptoms, you should consult a doctor.

Heart failure in children is a clinical syndrome characterized by cardiac functional impairment. The consequence of this pathology is insufficient blood supply to organs and tissues.

Often this disease occurs in infancy. At this age, the development of the disease is preceded by such causes as congenital heart defects, pulmonary diseases, fibroelastosis, and viral myocarditis. The development of the disease occurs gradually and almost imperceptibly for parents.

Signs of the disease

The first symptoms of heart failure in children of different ages are different:

1. Babies. At this age, with the development of pathology, children become restless, often cry, sweat too much, breathing is disturbed. When feeding, the baby quickly gets tired, stops suckling, and cries.
2. Preschoolers. Children of this age become inactive. They prefer to sit or lie more, refuse outdoor games. At first, children experience shortness of breath when they participate in active entertainment. After this symptom appears, even if the children are resting.
3. Teenagers. During the formation of the body, young people do not attach much importance to shortness of breath. At the beginning of the development of pathology, chest pain also does not bother. But coughing against the background of discomfort in the heart area makes them visit the clinic with their parents. In addition, signs such as pallor of the skin and a blue tint of the lips may be observed.

The child needs immediate medical attention. Progressing, the disease causes tachycardia: the number of heartbeats increases to ninety beats per minute. In preschool children, veins “swell” in the neck.

If swelling appears on the lower extremities and in the lumbar region, this indicates a chronic course of the disease. In teenagers, this swelling is best seen in the morning. In infants, swelling is rare and occurs either under the eyes or on the cheeks.

Heart failure in children progresses most rapidly if they are under one year of age.

With untimely diagnosis, the development of an acute form of the disease, which is accompanied by pulmonary edema, is possible.

In this case, there are:

• bubbling sounds when breathing;
• a sharp increase in shortness of breath;
• coughing;
• wheezing;
• reddish frothy sputum;
• pale skin;
• cold sweat.

With these symptoms, you need to act immediately. Only urgent medical care can save a child's life. Acute heart failure in children can develop very quickly. Therefore, before the arrival of the team of doctors, first aid should be provided. It is necessary to let a lot of fresh air into the room (you need to open the windows). Then you should seat the child in a reclining position (put a few pillows under the back). In this case, an oxygen bag may be required, so it is necessary to have one on hand.

Diagnosis and treatment of pathology

To choose the right treatment, the doctor must correctly establish the stage and form of the disease. And for this, instrumental and laboratory studies are carried out.

In the clinic, the doctor will determine the location of the lesion, find out the state of diastolic, systolic function.

Diagnostic methods may include:

1. Radiography. This procedure allows you to identify venous hypertension, pulmonary edema, cardiomegaly.
2. ECG. It is carried out to detect hypertrophy, arrhythmia, conduction, overload of organ departments.
3. Echocardiography. It is required to determine the nature of the defect, the type of cardiomyopathy, the presence of valvular regurgitation, the pumping ability of the heart, the transmitral and transtricuspid blood flow.
4. MRI. Necessary for the diagnosis of arrhythmogenic ventricular dysplasia.

As for treatment, the sooner parents go to the clinic, the more favorable the prognosis will be. If a newborn child is diagnosed with heart failure at the initial stage and there is no heart disease, for healing it is enough to reduce the activity of the baby, reduce the amount of water and sodium in food, and feed through a probe.

With an exacerbation of the disease, a long bed rest is prescribed, physical activity is allowed only after agreement with the doctor.

In general, the treatment of heart failure is aimed at:

• to eliminate the symptoms of the disease (shortness of breath, arrhythmias, edema);
• to protect target organs (brain, heart, kidneys);
• to restore the normal functioning of the child;
• to prevent subsequent hospitalizations.

For the treatment of heart failure, drugs of the following groups can be prescribed:

1. cardiac glycosides. First they are administered intravenously, then transferred to tablets. These drugs increase the contractility of the myocardial muscle.
2. Diuretics. Such funds help reduce the load on the heart by eliminating congestive symptoms.
3. ACE inhibitors. Drugs of this series prolong the action of glycosides, allow you to reduce the dose of diuretics.
4. Beta blockers. Appointed with a stable course of the disease.

After discharge from the hospital, the doctor prescribes special meals and medications that will need to be applied at home. All recommendations are strictly individual, depending on the form of pathology and the condition of the child.

Particular attention is paid to physical activity. Based on the degree of the disease, active games, running, brisk walking may be prohibited. Schoolchildren are required to be exempted from physical education lessons. With a complex form of pathology, the child is recommended half-bed rest and sedentary walks.

The prognosis for the treatment of heart failure in children is favorable with the timely elimination of the causes that caused the development of pathology. And this is possible with the correct, timely diagnosis and compliance with all the recommendations of the doctor. The main thing that parents need to know is that in no case should you give your baby medication or increase the dose at your discretion. Incorrectly selected pharmacological preparations can seriously harm the child.