CHILD CARDIOLOGY

In paediatric cardiology, heart examinations (listening to heart sounds, echocardiography and electrocardiography) are performed on children aged 0-18. In addition, the assessment of heart disease in babies in the womb is carried out using a procedure called ‘foetal echocardiography’.

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Congenital heart disease is one of the most common congenital diseases, occurring in 1 per cent of the population. As a significant proportion of these conditions do not cause symptoms in early life, it is recommended that every child undergo a heart examination by the age of 6.

Furthermore, any child with a heart murmur should be examined. In young children, symptoms such as cyanosis, fatigue, rapid breathing, failure to gain weight despite good nutrition, and a history of frequent respiratory infections should be investigated. In older children, a history of chest pain or fainting with exertion, fatigue, frequent tonsillitis, and a family history of acute rheumatic fever, must undergo a heart examination before participating in sports.

Diseases monitored and treated in paediatric cardiology are divided into two categories: congenital and acquired heart diseases.

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Congenital heart diseases:
Heart defects:
Atrial septal defect (ASD), ventricular septal defect (VSD)

Heart valve diseases:
- Pulmonary (lung) artery valve stenosis,

- Bicuspid aortic valve-aortic valve stenosis and insufficiency,

- Mitral valve prolapse (valve collapse),

- Ebstein's anomaly of the tricuspid valve

Vascular diseases:
Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), aortic coarctation, stenosis of pulmonary artery branches

Acquired heart diseases:
- Acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease

- Kawasaki disease

- Myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle), pericarditis (inflammation of the outer lining of the heart) and endocarditis (inflammation of the inner lining of the heart)

- Cardiac involvement during other diseases.

What is a murmur?
It is a sound heard when listening to a child's heartbeat. It is classified into two types: innocent-functional and pathological.

Innocent murmur:
These are murmurs heard in a significant proportion of children, who have no other complaints and show no abnormalities on ECHO and ECG. Most people cannot hear them as the chest wall thickens with age, and they disappear.

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Pathological Murmur:
These are murmurs heard in children who already have complaints and who have abnormalities detected on echocardiography and/or electrocardiography. The cause is a heart condition (heart defect, vascular or valve stenosis, significant blood leakage in any heart valve), and follow-up and treatment (medication, angiography, surgery) are planned accordingly.
What is an ECHO?
It is an ultrasound examination of the heart performed with specially developed devices. Since images are produced using sound waves, there is no harm (e.g., radiation) to the child or individual. It is the most important examination method we use to assess the structure of the heart (is the heart normal or not?) and whether it is functioning properly.

What is a foetal ECHO?
It is an ultrasound examination of the heart of the baby in the womb. It does not harm the mother or the baby.

The best gestational weeks for evaluating a foetal ECHO are between 18 and 24 weeks. It is performed when there is a history of heart disease in the parents or in previous pregnancies, when certain medications are used during pregnancy or certain infections are contracted, when the mother has a history of diabetes or phenylketonuria, or when the attending physician suspects a heart disease or arrhythmia in the baby and refers the patient accordingly. If an arrhythmia is detected during the examination, treatment may be initiated for the mother if necessary, and she is closely monitored. The family is informed about where the delivery should take place based on the severity of the baby's diagnosed structural heart disease and the expected process after birth.

What is an ECG?
The heart works by pumping blood hundreds of thousands of times a day using the electrical activity produced by its cells.

Electrocardiography, commonly referred to as an ECG, is a procedure that graphically records the heart's electrical activity using electrodes placed on the wrists and chest. While it is particularly useful for diagnosing heart rhythm disorders, it also provides important clues for heart muscle and heart membrane diseases, as well as heart attacks.

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Update Date:2025-09-01 14:26:33

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Spec. Dr. Ahmet KÖSE

CHILD CARDIOLOGY