Of the ailments of the cardiovascular system, cardites of various origins are quite common. Congenital carditis in children is a generalized name for the inflammatory processes of the heart membranes. The disease occurs in many people, regardless of the age category of the patient, including infants and older children. Carditis is endowed with a clinical picture unusual for cardiovascular ailments, the danger lies in the appearance of complications. There are several types of disease. The classification of carditis in children is presented below.
Clinical picture
In children, carditis occurs in the womb: early intrauterine in the fourth to sixth month of pregnancy, late in the third trimester. The most common cause of occurrence is an island-virus infection or disease caused by microbes carried by a future mother during pregnancy. A child is already born with symptoms of the disease (tachycardia, extrasystole, enlargement of the heart chambers), or they begin to appear in the first or third month after the birth of the baby. The identification of symptoms of carditis in children does not differ from adults. Treatment is necessarily carried out in a hospital.
Symptoms
The first symptoms are difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, pallor or cyanosis (cyanotic color) of the visible mucous membranes. General symptoms are supplemented by cough, malfunctioning of the stomach, disorders of the nervous system. On the electrocardiogram, rhythm disturbances of varying severity can be seen. The first manifestations of signs of inflammation of the membranes of the heart are difficult, and therefore they need special monitoring by a cardiologist.
The variety of the course of the disease rarely allows you to directly identify cardiological diseases. Especially in situations where carditis is acquired after an infectious disease. The patient feels weak, gets tired quickly, eats poorly, feels nauseous, has lowered attention. Common signs of this kind are common to many diseases. In young children, carditis is accompanied by cough, heart pain. The baby is not able to state the painful sensations, he is trying not to move sharply, to breathe shallowly.
In the process of developing the disease, the symptoms are expressed even brighter and clearer. Then a rapid heartbeat, tachycardia, deafness of the heart tone begins to occur, shortness of breath, swelling, cyanosis, pain in the heart region, cough often appear. However, this does not indicate the appearance of carditis, since the symptoms are similar to such manifestations of heart diseases as arrhythmia, tumor formations that affect the myocardium, mitral stenosis, heart disease.
Early non-rheumatic carditis
Early non-rheumatic carditis in children is detected immediately after birth or during the first six months of life. In such children, pale skin color, visible mucous membranes, low weight, lagging behind peers in the growth or physical formation of the body are noticed. Tachycardia (heart palpitations) can occur even with a completely calm position, it intensifies with little physical activity (when the baby is fed, bathed). Clinical recommendations for non-rheumatic carditis in children indicate that parents need to maintain a healthy baby. You also need to pay attention to other symptoms - this is, among other things, cardiomegaly (an increase in heart muscle), heart failure, a hump on the heart, and the appearance of edema. The acute form occurs after infections that the child has suffered.
Viral carditis
Viral carditis in children is extremely difficult to determine, because for sowing the pathogen, a long period of time is required. In this case, the symptoms are supplemented by fever up to 39–40 ° C, pulse failure, liver diseases, increased leukocytosis. By carefully following a child who has heart problems, you can see that he is lethargic and not as energetic as his peers. Heart diseases of various kinds at any period of formation always cause the appearance of pain in the chest area.
Subacute carditis
Subacute carditis is mainly found in children aged two to five years. This kind of ailment appears either after acute carditis, or by itself after a long period of time after colds and viral diseases.
Signs of subacute form
Signs of subacute carditis are:
- Intoxication reactions (pale skin color, fatigue, irritability of the nervous system and others).
- Underweight
- Heart failure that develops over time.
- Heart palpitations.
- Systolic murmur.
- An increase in heart size.
In general, the signs of a subacute disease are identical to the signs of acute carditis, but the treatment is difficult because the resulting heart failure is caused by prolonged destructive changes. According to the doctors, the recurrence of the disease can be observed after a year and a half, otherwise subacute carditis becomes chronic. The types of carditis not caused by infections are expressed by approximately similar signs of different severity levels.
Rheumatic carditis
The determination of rheumatic carditis in children is detected by the divergence of the inflammatory process into the heart membranes. As a rule, shortness of breath, palpitations during motor activity, and chest pain are disturbing. In children, when making a diagnosis, heart palpitations, low blood pressure, systolic murmur at the apex of the heart, pathological gallop rhythm are observed. After there are signs of congestive heart failure, malfunctions in the heart rhythm. In a situation with rheumatic pericarditis, the heart valve suffers.
Treatment
A complicated heart disease, such as carditis, can be cured in children for quite a long time, in several stages. The principle of complex treatment is established, first of all, on how timely the deviation was detected and to what extent it was started.
The causes and types of the disease accompanying chronic diseases, the general state of health (mental, physiological) are taken into account. Acute forms of the course of the disease require immediate hospitalization. A child can undergo inpatient treatment from ten days to a month. He is prescribed the strictest pastel regimen, treatment procedures begin with etiotropic antibacterial drugs. In addition to them, oxygen treatment can be prescribed when the disease acquires a neglected degree and the child is extremely difficult to tolerate procedures.
Diet
With carditis, the treating specialist selects a certain diet for the patient, taking into account the individual characteristics of the patient's body. Foods rich in nutrients and potassium salts are preferred. It is recommended to include dried fruits and baked potatoes in the diet. Salt should be removed from the menu, products that contribute to the formation of edema, those that retain fluid in the body (smoked, salty).
Drug treatment of carditis in a child
To eliminate acute inflammation of the heart membranes, sometimes doctors consider it possible to prescribe home treatment. The use of anti-inflammatory non-steroid drugs, for example, Voltaren, Indomethacin, Prednisolone, is introduced for about two months. In addition, vitamin complexes, antihistamines, potassium are prescribed. Diuretic agents, cardiac glycosides may be prescribed. When the baby has coagulability of blood inside the vessels, he is prescribed drugs to improve blood circulation, stabilizing metabolism in the myocardium.
Physical Education
Depending on the course of the disease, treatment aimed at eliminating arrhythmia is prescribed. This category includes physiotherapy exercises, which excludes hard work. After this, the child is sent for rehabilitation to health facilities, boarding houses, medical institutions with a cardiology profile.
Monitoring the condition of the baby
The specialist who prescribed the treatment stably monitors the child for a year after treatment. To determine the condition of the child after a course of therapy, every three months the child undergoes an electrocardiogram. The task of parents is to comply with clinical guidelines for carditis in children. Within five years after treatment, all vaccinations are prohibited. When conducting an electrocardiogram, malfunctions of the heart rhythm and conduction are determined. On x-ray images, it will be possible to consider an increase in the heart in volume, a modification of its shape, an increase in the lungs due to stagnation of veins, and the occurrence of swelling. An ultrasound examination will reveal an increase in cardiac cavities and other visible abnormalities.
Complications
Carditis in children causes new health problems. As with a chronic disease, complications arise in the work of the heart, respiratory system, prompting the occurrence of diseases of the cardiovascular system. Such consequences inhibit the elimination of the underlying disease, in this case, the prognosis can only be negative, up to a fatal outcome. Therefore, timely initiation of treatment is extremely important. The result of this deviation in young children may be an increase in connective scar tissue or myocardial hypertrophy, from time to time, adhesive pericarditis, sclerosis in the pulmonary artery system, or malfunctioning of the valve (with an exacerbated course of the disease) appear. In patients who are older than three years, the ailment often ends with a return to a full healthy life.
In conclusion, you can once again notice that only on time a perfect visit to specialists with the appearance of signs of the disease in the baby, a detailed study and well-chosen treatment methods at times increase the possibility of a successful recovery and reduce the likelihood of complications.
How to prevent the disease?
Primary prevention includes the prevention of fetal infection during pregnancy, hardening of the baby, treatment of acute and chronic focal infections, dispensary monitoring of a child at risk for cardiovascular disease.
Secondary prevention is focused on the prevention of complications and relapse of the process, achieved by the exact observance of the principles of the clinical examination of patients.