Paediatric Cardiology

Dhritabrata Das

MBBS,DCH,DNB(PED),FELLOWSHIP PED CARDIOLOGY (INDIA AND AUSTRALIA)
Consultant Pediatric Cardiologist
Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals
Medica Superspecialty Hospital

Introduction

Worldwide statistics show that nearly one in every hundred children born suffer from congenital heart disease. Considering the present birth rate in India, every year we have almost two lakh new born babies who suffer from such a defect. Approximately half of them need treatment in first year of life. If we consider the existing children already suffering from heart disease ….and the new additions, the burden is huge. Unfortunately only two percent of these children get proper treatment and it tells us about the sorry state of our performance in this field.

For proper treatment, we need to diagnose the problem in time and start the treatment early and the right person to guide you in your need is a Paediatric Cardiologist, a specialist doctor who is trained to take care of tiny little hearts.

When do you suspect heart problem in your child?

• Not feeding well, getting tired early
• Breathing difficulty when running or playing
• Poor growth
• Repeated pneumonia, specially if requires hospital admission
• Turns blue
• Doctor suspects without any apparent problem

If there is any doubt, immediately get in touch with a Paediatric Cardiologist and get proper evaluation for your kid. Just presence of heart disease in a baby does not mean that he will need surgery. Many heart diseases don’t need immediate treatment, some need regular follow-up to check for spontaneous improvement or any deterioration, some of them can be managed with medications and some babies will need early surgery or intervention. But it is very important to get early evaluation and regular follow-up to decide about the management plan and only a Paediatric Cardiologist can guide you properly.

Time is precious. Delay in diagnosis and treatment can often hamper the normal growth and developmen of your kid, treatment may not have optimal result and sometimes delay can make his heart problem unsuitable for ideal treatment. The main growth of body and brain occurs in first two years of life…so any neglect at that vital period may leave a permanent scar in him.

Thankfully, most of these children can lead a normal and healthy life with timely intervention. So, we need to diagnose these problems early and treat them timely to help the little hearts beat healthy. With the advance in technology, many of these congenital heart problems can be cured without surgery. Holes in the heart can be closed by putting plug like devices within it and obstructions in heart valves or blood vessels can be treated by balloon dilatation or stents with minimal risk and a healthy life without a scar on body and mind. Even if surgery is needed, the outcome is excellent in most of the heart problems and surgeries can be performed even in small babies if required.