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Heart failure means that the heart isn’t pumping enough blood to the body. While it is still squeezing, it is not pumping blood as well as a healthy person’s heart. This can cause a range of symptoms that make daily life difficult.
Children in heart failure need help from experienced pediatric specialists. Fortunately, we have many ways to treat heart failure here at Lurie Children’s. Each year, we help kids get stronger and feel better.
There are three main causes of heart failure:
Other less common causes of heart failure can include:
Heart failure is sometimes called “Congestive” refers to the lungs and other tissues in the body becoming filled with fluid — part of a chain reaction of blood not being pumped properly.
Typical heart failure symptoms can include:
In children without a known heart diagnosis, heart failure can be difficult to recognize. The symptoms can mimic other conditions, or be slowly progressive. Children can compensate for decreased heart function much longer than adults.
That’s why seeing an experienced pediatric cardiologist for diagnosis is so important. Lurie Children’s cardiologists are trained to look for the more subtle symptoms of heart failure.
We first seek to understand your child’s symptoms and how they show up in daily life. We do a complete physical exam and take a history of symptoms and a family history.
We may then do tests to get a closer look at the heart and how it’s functioning.
These include echocardiograms or electrocardiograms, as well as more advanced imaging like cardiac computed tomography (CT) or cardiac MRI. We may do an exercise stress test or have a child wear a Holter monitor to look at their heart rhythm. We may also use cardiac catheterization, which requires anesthesia.
These tests can help find the underlying cause of the heart failure, which may tell us how to treat it. If it’s a leaky valve, for example, we can repair the valve with heart surgery.
We always start with the least invasive treatment and add options as we need. Medication is the most common treatment for heart failure. Some children may need continuous medication while staying in our Regenstein Cardiac Care Unit for a time.
For children who need mechanical support, we offer ventricular assist devices. We have a dedicated team who specializes in the care of children who need more advanced heart support. For certain children who have severe heart failure, a heart transplant is the treatment.
Whatever the treatment, we partner with the patient and family. We’ll make sure your family understands what’s happening each step of the way.
Treating heart failure is a true area of strength for Lurie Children’s Heart Center. As a top ranked pediatric heart center by U.S.News and World Report, we’re known for:
To help prepare families for their care with Lurie Children's Heart Center, we have compiled a list of resources about treatment and recovery. Learn how to get ready for an inpatient stay or outpatient visit, and read about our support services for patients and families.