Pediatric Cardiology

Any heart condition that isn’t present at birth, but develops later in childhood due to other factors, including infection, inflammation, or autoimmune disease. Examples include:

Acquired cardiomyopathy

These conditions damage the heart’s muscle tissue, which makes it more difficult to pump blood throughout the body.

Inflammation of the heart

Certain infections, medications, or autoimmune disorders can trigger an inflammatory response in a child’s heart. Conditions include:

• Myocarditis: inflammation of heart muscle tissue
• Endocarditis: inflammation of the heart’s inner lining
• Pericarditis: inflammation of the protective sac surrounding the heart

Rheumatic heart disease

This occurs if a child’s heart valves were damaged as a result of a previous episode of rheumatic fever.

Kawasaki disease

Swelling and inflammation in blood vessels, particularly the arteries that supply blood to the heart.

Structural heart problems that develop in the womb and are already present at birth, including:

Blood vessel defects and abnormal connections

Sometimes blood vessels can form incorrectly or attach to the wrong place in the heart. This could include:

• Patent ductus arteriosus: a persistent extra connection in the heart that allows extra blood to go to the lungs
• Anomalous pulmonary veins: veins that attach to the wrong chamber of the heart
• Aorta defects: including an aorta that’s too narrow (aortic coarctation), incomplete (interrupted aortic arch), or forms a ring around the windpipe and esophagus (vascular rings)

Blue baby conditions (Cyanotic heart defects)

Heart defects that result in a baby’s skin appearing bluish due to low blood oxygen levels. There are many possible causes, including:

• Tetralogy of Fallot: a complex condition consisting of four separate defects that primarily affect the ventricles and how they connect to the rest of the heart
• Transposition of the great arteries: each great artery develops in the other’s location
• Truncus arteriosus: The aorta and pulmonary trunk fail to separate from one another in the womb

Heart valve defects

These defects cause heart valves that either don’t seal well enough to stop some blood from flowing backward or don’t open wide enough to allow sufficient blood flow. Examples include:

• Aortic stenosis: narrow valve connecting the heart to the aorta, which supplies oxygen-rich blood to the body
• Ebstein’s anomaly: a leaky tricuspid valve that allows blood to flow backward from the right ventricle to the right atrium
• Pulmonary stenosis: narrow valve connecting the heart to the lungs

Holes in the heart

Holes in the walls that separate the heart’s four chambers can make it more difficult for blood to flow where it’s supposed to. Examples include:

• Atrial septal defect (ASD): hole between the left and right atria
• Ventricular septal defect (VSD): hole between the left and right ventricles
• Atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD): hole in the center of the heart causing either both atria (partial AVSD) or all four chambers (complete AVSD) to be connected. It is also known as atrioventricular canal defect (AVCD)

Underdeveloped heart chamber conditions

This occurs when one or more of the heart’s chambers fail to fully develop in the womb. Examples include:

• Hypoplastic left heart syndrome: structures on the left side of the heart are too small to support healthy blood flow
• Single ventricle conditions: conditions that cause one of the heart’s ventricles to either be too underdeveloped to pump blood, or missing entirely

Diseases that change heart muscle tissue, known as cardiomyopathy, can make it more difficult for the heart to pump efficiently and weaken it over time. Cardiomyopathy is often present at birth. However, it can also be caused by infections, substance exposure, or other medical problems later in life.

Conditions include:

• Dilated cardiomyopathy: enlarged or weak heart muscle
• Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM): thickened heart muscle
• Restricted cardiomyopathy: stiff heart muscle

The heartbeat is controlled by electrical signals generated within the heart itself. When these impulses aren’t working properly, the result is an irregular heartbeat. This can present as a heart rhythm that is too fast (tachycardia), too slow (bradycardia), or one with inconsistent or abnormal patterns.

If left untreated, serious heart rhythm problems can cause pain, shortness of breath, fainting, and in some cases, may become life-threatening.

When the arteries that carry blood from the heart to the lungs (pulmonary arteries) become excessively narrowed, thickened, or stiffened, it forces the heart to work harder to move blood around the body. This can slowly weaken the heart over time and result in more severe symptoms and a higher risk of heart failure in the future.

In children, pulmonary hypertension is often the result of congenital heart defects, cardiomyopathy, or chronic lung disease.