Heart disease is the number one killer of adults in the United States and becomes especially tragic when it strikes children. Pediatric heart disease describes several different types of heart disease in children, and according to the American Heart Association, is the most common type of birth defect, affecting 8 out of 1,000 newborns each year. Over 35,000 newborns are born with it annually in the United States alone.
Here are 5 of the most common types:
Congenital heart defects
These are the most common types of pediatric heart defects because they are already present at birth. “An important distinction to make is that congenital heart defects are not a disease; they are a defect or abnormality,” said Children’s Cardiovascular Medicine.
The most common of these are structural abnormalities, which involve a problem with either the heart muscle or one or more of the heart valves. These include:
• Aortic Valve Stenosis, where the blood flowing from the heart becomes trapped by a faulty valve, causing pressure to increase inside the heart
• Atrial Septal Defect, which is a hole in the muscle wall that separates the upper chambers of the heart
Other abnormalities can include:
• Defects in the septum that separates the right and left sides of the heart
• Restricted blood flow due to a narrow Aortic valve, or a leaky Mitral valve
• One side of the heart is measurably weaker than the other, as in Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome
Arrhythmias
An Arrhythmia is an abnormal or irregular heartbeat, which causes the heart to pump inefficiently.
Types of arrhythmias can include:
• A faster or slower than normal heartbeat – tachycardia or bradycardia, respectfully.
• Wolf-Parkinson-White syndrome – a defect in the heart’s electrical system, causing heartbeat irregularity
Symptoms of arrhythmias can include weakness and fatigue, as well as difficulties feeding.
Kawasaki disease
This disease is relatively common in the general population, yet according to the American Heart Association, it accounts for as many as 1 in 5 cases of pediatric heart disease, with most under the age of 5.
Researchers are unsure what causes it, and while it can occur in children of any ethnic group, it shows up most frequently in children of Asian descent, appearing in boys almost twice as often as girls.
Kawasaki disease is unique to children and symptoms include:
• Swelling of the lymph nodes
• Fever and rash
• Swelling of the hands and feet
• Irritation of the eyes and inflammation of the mouth and throat
Rheumatic heart disease
Rheumatic heart disease is caused first by Rheumatic fever, a result of an undiagnosed and untreated strep infection. It occurs most often in underdeveloped countries, yet is one of the more common forms of an acquired heart disease in children – that is, one not caused by a birth defect.
Rheumatic heart disease seriously and permanently damages the heart muscle, and surgery is often required to repair damaged heart valves. This type of heart disease is a long-term problem, and treatment that includes surgery can continue for up to 5-20 years.
Children who have had a previous attack of Rheumatic fever are at the highest risk for a reoccurrence, which further damages the heart muscle. Second occurrences are best prevented by administering antibiotics, a treatment that must be continued for many years.
Cardiomyopathy
This is a disease involving irregularities of the muscle fibers in the cardiac muscle itself. This is considered a primary disease when present at birth, and a secondary disease when caused later by an outside source, such as a fever or a viral infection.
According to the Pediatric Cardiomyopathy Registry, 1 in every 100,000 children born in the United States under the age of 18 is diagnosed with Cardiomyopathy, with the majority being aged less than one year.
Researchers separate this disease into four different categories, based on differences in features and treatment types. These are: Dilated, hypertrophic, restrictive, and miscellaneous – the latter being a term to describe rare conditions that do not fit into the other three.
