Arrhythmia in Children
Lee Health: Your Trusted Pediatric Heart Specialists For Your Child's Arrhythmia
Lee Health Cardiology specialists are here to help you understand and treat your child's arrhythmia. Our team of experts offer compassionate, experienced care to ensure that your child and family have resources and information to support treatment of this condition.
What is an arrhythmia in children?
An arrhythmia is an abnormal rhythm of the heart. With an arrhythmia, an abnormal electrical signals throughout the heart muscle causes the heart to beat too fast (tachycardia), too slow (bradycardia), or irregularly. When the heart beats irregularly, blood flow is negatively impacted therefore the lungs, brain and other organs may not get enough blood.
Types of arrhythmias in children include:
Atrial flutter is a very fast heartbeat caused by muscles contracting quickly.
Complete heart block where the electrical signal from the upper to lower chambers is entirely blocked causing the heart to beat more slowly.
Long QT Syndrome which occur when the ventricles take too long to contract and release resulting in erratic, fast heartbeats.
Premature atrial contraction (PAC) and premature ventricular contraction (PVC) caused when a premature or extra heartbeat occurs in, either, the atria or the ventricles.
Sinus tachycardia (SVT) which is a normal increase in the heart rate often associated with exercise, fever, or excitement and typically does not require treatment.
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Pediatric Cardiology
Care for your child's heart, in a warm, family-friendly setting. Lee Health's hub for pediatric cardiology in SWFL.
Symptoms of Arrhythmia in Children
In some cases, children with arrhythmia may have no symptoms. If they do these symptoms can include:
- fatigue
- rapid breathing
- palpitations
- dizziness
- fainting
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Pediatric Cardiology - Golisano Children’s Health Center
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Pediatric Cardiology - HealthPark Commons
Causes of Arrhythmia in Children
While the cause of arrhythmia in a child may not be known, some more commonly known causes in children include:
- Infection
- Heart problem that is present at birth (congenital)
- Heart problem that is inherited
- Abnormal levels of certain chemicals in the blood
- Normal reaction to exercise, fever, or emotions
- Electrical conduction abnormality
- Changes in the structure of the heart
- Viral infections
Although these are some of the more common causes for arrhythmia, your child's pediatric cardiologist will ensure that they take your child's unique medical history and health needs into account to provide you with the best understanding of their health condition and treatment options.
Diagnosis and Treatment of Arrhythmia in Children
Depending on your child's severity of symptoms and risks, your provider may recommend one of the below options to diagnose their unique condition:
- electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG)
- exercise EKG
- holter or event monitor
- continuous recording
- stress/rest myocardial perfusion imaging
- electrophysiologic study (EPS)
Lee Health offers the most advanced and effective arrhythmia treatments for all of our patients. While ablation therapy is considered the only treatment that offers a potential cure for arrhythmia, there are additional approaches to manage your child's arrhythmia.
From medications to electrical cardioversion, Lee Health providers perform more arrhythmia treatments than any other hospital system in Southwest Florida. Your child's pediatric specialist will discuss all of the best treatment options available for your child based on their unique condition to ensure you have a clear understanding of your care plan.
