Heart diseases seen in childhood are evaluated in two groups according to the time of formation, either congenital or acquired.
Some heart diseases during the initial formation can be diagnosed during ultrasounds performed during pregnancy. Abnormalities of the vessels leaving or returning to the heart, large diameter holes between the heart cavities can be detected, and both follow-up and early intervention, if necessary, are possible in the postnatal period.
The baby is examined while still in the delivery room. It is checked whether there is a heart murmur, weakness in heart sounds, number of beats, the baby's color turning pink due to the environment or extra oxygen, feeling leg pulses, and difficulty breathing. Urgent surgical intervention may be required for some heart diseases that occur with low blood oxygen (cyanotic). The newborn is monitored in intensive care units and diagnosed with echocardiography, and the need for surgery is decided by a pediatric cardiologist and pediatric cardiovascular surgeon. Some non-cyanotic heart diseases are diagnosed at the time of birth or through examination findings during the process. During monthly routine checks, either a heart murmur is heard, the baby has difficulty breathing, there is a slowdown in growth and development, or it gets tired while breastfeeding. In these cases, diagnosis can be made by performing ECHO.
There are open vessels and holes in the heart, the mechanism that provides circulation in the womb. These close after a while when the baby is born. When it does not close, the heart cavities are exposed to extra load. Insufficiency symptoms occur. These include frequent breathing, fatigue while feeding, not gaining weight, and bruising when crying. Sometimes, there is no problem in the baby's initial examination findings, but a heart murmur is heard during the process. There is no difference in pressure between the right and left chambers of the heart during birth. The difference occurs over time, and as blood flows through the hole in the heart, a murmur is heard, which can sometimes occur even in adulthood.
The diameter of the holes between the heart chambers. It is monitored and treated according to its number, location, and effect on the baby. Sometimes it is just expected to be followed and closed. Sometimes medical treatment is performed and sometimes surgical intervention is required.
The disease may also be a part of other diseases that are not congenital and subsequently affect the heart. Infection The main causes are rheumatic diseases (either by itself or through the autoimmune response it creates), side effects of toxic substances or drugs, and vascular diseases that feed the heart. The most common acquired heart disease we see in children in routine life is ARF (acute rheumatic fever). The inflammatory structure disorder that occurs in the heart valves during or usually a few weeks after a throat infection caused by group A beta hemolytic streptococcus bacteria can cause valve insufficiency and indirectly impair heart functions. Diagnosis is made through blood tests, ECG and echo, and long-term treatment is required. It would be correct to point out that this disease may occur not in every person who has a beta infection, but in those who have a constitutional predisposition.
Cardiac involvement may also occur in some rheumatic diseases such as lupus. KAWASAKI disease is also in this group. This disease is considered if there is a fever that has not been found for 5 days, a fever that does not go down, or if there are symptoms such as a lump on the neck, a rash, burrs in the eyes, or peeling on the fingertips. Early diagnosis is important in this disease, as delay in diagnosis may cause permanent damage to the vessels feeding the heart.
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