What does paediatric cardiology do?

In the paediatric cardiology department, congenital heart defects and acquired heart diseases are diagnosed and treated.
Children are treated from newborn to 18 years of age.

Some heart conditions cause symptoms that are visible and easily noticed, so children can see a doctor early. In other cases, however, the symptoms are mild and it can take years to discover the disease. In congenital heart defects, early detection and accurate diagnosis are important because the varying severity of the condition may require immediate intervention.

Developmental heart diseases often require surgery, and rarely even surgery may not bring a complete cure. In other cases, specialist monitoring, medication and regular follow-up are sufficient.

Most heart problems in children are congenital. In more severe cases, the heart problem is often detected immediately after birth, causing a life-threatening condition in the newborn that requires immediate surgical intervention.

Common symptoms of congenital heart disease include:

• the baby tires quickly during feeding, breathing rapidly
• high respiratory rate even at rest
• the baby’s weight gain stops abruptly and sometimes starts to decline;
• frequent yellowing and paleness of the skin

Less serious congenital heart defects often first appear at a few weeks or months of age and may not be noticed by parents, but the abnormalities are noticed by the paediatrician at screening:

• a heart rate that is too low or too high
• heart murmur
• irregular heartbeat,
• high blood pressure, possibly a difference in blood pressure between the limbs

In all cases it is essential to see a paediatric cardiologist as soon as possible.

Acquired heart disease:

• inflammatory diseases
• Myocardial diseases
• heart rhythm disorders

Possible symptoms of acquired heart disease:

• loss of appetite
• feeding difficulties
• fatigue, stagnation or loss of weight in the infant,
• heart murmur
• rapid breathing or
• too slow a pulse
• oedema

The main symptoms of childhood hypertension are headaches and visual disturbances.

Fetal echocardiogram

A fetal echocardiogram, a test specifically designed to detect abnormalities in heart development, can be used to detect almost all serious cardiac developmental diseases. The fetal heart sound develops around the 5th or 6th week of pregnancy and is not detectable at first but can be heard from the second trimester onwards.

The fetus’ heart is constantly developing, so screening for heart development disorders during pregnancy is of paramount importance. Fetal cardiac malformations affect nearly 1% of newborns.