Normally, heart failure does not mean that the heart stops working completely. It can refer to an irregularity or difficulty for you to do your homework.
In this case, the coronary arteries that wrap around the heart to provide oxygen to the heart muscle become blocked for whatever reason and the heart does not receive enough oxygen. This is what is commonly known as a heart attack.according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Added to this are some heart conditions that can cause chest pain in children, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, congenital heart defects, heart muscle disease or enlargement of the heart muscle, heart valve disease, cardiac arrhythmias, and anemia.
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Your doctor may do a test called an electrocardiogram, which records your heartbeat, to determine the cause of the irregularity or pain.
These might be:
– Swelling of feet, ankles, legs, belly, liver and neck veins
– Difficulty breathing, especially when you are active
– Poor diet and weight gain.
– Fatigue
– Extreme sweating while eating, playing or doing physical activity
– Fainting
– Chest pain
The severity of the symptoms will depend on how much the heart’s pumping ability is affected.
Read on: (Heart Attack in Women: What are the symptoms?)
According to an article from the American Academy of Pediatrics, pay special attention if chest pain does not go away; if the child was born with congenital heart disease; have had Kawasaki disease or have a family member with cardiomyopathy.
It can also be caused by enlarged heart muscle (cardiomyopathy), increased blood supply to the heart (ischemia), heart arrhythmias, heart valve disease, infections, or side effects of medications.
It may interest you: (How to apply first aid in case of a heart attack at home?)
“Your child may be referred to a pediatric cardiology specialist for imaging or additional tests, but imaging is usually done in the pediatrician’s office or clinic,” says the American Heart Association.
Medicines are often used to treat heart failure in children, but it can also be resort to pacemakers, cardiac resynchronization therapy, or even a heart transplant.
If the condition is mild, you can include lifestyle changes, such as a healthy diet and regular exercise.
In the event of having suffered a pre-infarction, the pediatrician will be the appropriate professional who will indicate the process to follow in the particular case.
