What Are the Causes of Pediatric Heart Disease?

According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, pediatric heart disease encompasses all abnormalities in the structure or function of a child's heart. Although the most common type of heart disease in children is congenital heart disease, or defects present at birth, experts segment the causes of pediatric heart disease into four categories.

Birth Defects

• The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute reports that heart defects at birth are the most common cause of pediatric heart disease. Shands Children's Hospital cites that about eight out of every 1,000 infants has a heart defect at birth, such as a hole in one or more chambers of the heart or missing heart valves.

Genetic Mutations

• According to a 2002 report issued by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, specific gene defects cause primary cardiomyopathies--disorders of the heart muscle--in children. Genetic mutations can also cause arrhythmias--disorders of the heart's rhythm--such as long QT syndrome.

Other Diseases

• Experts at Shands Children's Hospital cite diseases such as Kawasaki disease, rheumatic fever and infective endocarditis as causes of pediatric heart disease. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute reports that infectious organisms that cause inflammation can attack the heart muscle, causing myocarditis, a disease similar to a heart attack but without the blockage of arteries.

Therapeutic Causes

• The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute links medications with some types of pediatric heart disease. Its 2002 report on pediatric heart disease reports that toxic medications sometimes cause secondary cardiomyopathies in children; medications or even surgery can cause pediatric arrhythmias. The NHLBI also reports that improper doses of medicines may worsen pediatric heart disease.

Diagnosis

• According to Shands Children's Hospital, most serious congenital heart defects appear within a few months after birth, usually presenting symptoms such as blue skin, breathing difficulties, low blood pressure or poor weight gain. Doctors perform a detailed examination which would likely include blood tests, a chest x-ray, an electrocardiogram to measure the heart's electrical activity and an echocardiogram to take a picture of the heart.