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What Is a Pediatric Cardiologist?

A pediatric cardiologist is a physician specializing in the diagnosing and the treating of heart disease in children. There are two types of heart disease: congenital and acquired heart disease.

  1. What Is a Pediatric Cardiologist?

    • A pediatric cardiologist is a medical doctor, specializing in the detection and treatment of heart disease. Patients are referred to a pediatric cardiologist, by a primary care physician or pediatrician, who suspects that a patient is showing signs of heart disease.

    Types of Heart Disease

    • Congenital heart disease is caused from a heart's abnormal development in the early stages of the pregnancy. A pediatric cardiologists can detect fetal heart disease by ultrasound (image of the heart). An acquired heart disease develops at anytime after birth. These include hypertension, heart damage, infections or viruses, abnormal heart rhythms or endocarditis (inflammation of heart lining).

    Symptoms

    • Symptoms include chest pain, fainting, irregular heartbeats, heart murmurs, and palpitations.

    Causes

    • Acquired heart disease in children is usually caused by obesity, lack of physical exercise or poor nutrition.

    Diagnosis

    • A pediatric cardiologist diagnoses the disease with a physical examination, the results of an EKG (a non-invasive test that looks at the electrical activity of the heart) and an echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart), evaluation of family medical history, child medical history, body mass index (BMI) and lifestyle concerns. The pediatric cardiologist detects congenital heart disease by using a fetal echocardiogram equipment to conduct a ultrasound (image of the heart). This allows the cardiologist to evaluate the structure, function and arrhythmia of the heart of the fetus.

    Treatment

    • Many children with heart disease outgrow the disease, and require only monitoring or treatment for growing years. Some children require surgery or medication to eliminate the problem.

      Based on evaluation, a treatment plan, such as lifestyle change, can help prevent the development of acquired heart disease.

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