Enlarged heart is medically referred to cardiomegaly. Regularly this condition develops in children due to some other basic condition problem. The cause for enlarged heart in in adults can be due to cardiovascular diseases or even pregnancy. Here are some of the causes of enlarged heart in children:
One of the main causes of enlarged heart seen among children is cardiomyopathy. In this condition, the heart is unable to pump blood properly and this can lead to congestive heart failure. Children Regularly get cardiomyopathy due to a viral infection. However, it can also occur due to a congenital heart disease, nutritional deficiencies, chemotherapy or fast rhythm of the heart. Regularly cardiomyopathy is genetic in nature, but at times it can occur for no theorize whatsoever.
There are many separate types of cardiomyopathy that afflict children and lead to enlarged heart or cardiomegaly.
Congestive cardiomyopathy is the most tasteless type. It is also known as dilated cardiomyopathy. This condition causes the heart muscle to stretch, which makes it weak. As a result the heart cannot pump blood efficiently. This condition causes other problems in children like arrhythmia, dysrhythmia, blood clots or congestive heart failure. Regularly viral infections are to be blamed for this where the infection causes inflammation of the heart muscle. Other cause is chemotherapy.
Depending on the child's age and health, a course of rehabilitation is prescribed by the doctor. Regularly the rehabilitation involves decreasing the stress on the heart through medication. If the heart is enlarged due to a viral infection, it can get better once the infection disappears. However, this is not sure. If the condition becomes worse, then the only rehabilitation is a heart transplant.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is also known as hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, asymmetric septal hypertrophy or idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis. This is a rare condition wherein the left ventricle becomes enlarge or the septum separating the two ventricles gets enlarged. This type of cardiomyopathy can also cause the mitral valve to weaken and leak causing the blood to flow backwards from the left ventricle into the left atrium.
This type of cardiomyopathy is Regularly hereditary, and causes pain in the chest, dizzy spells, fainting episodes and abnormal beats of the heart. The rehabilitation is similar to congestive cardiomyopathy, but at times surgery is also required wherein pacemaker is introduced into the heart, a part of the enlarged heart is removed or heart transplantation is undertaken.
