Diseases of children (pediatrics)

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in children

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a myocardial disease characterized by focal or diffuse hypertrophy of the myocardium of the left and/or right ventricle, often asymmetrical, with involvement of the interventricular septum in the hypertrophic process, normal or reduced volume of the left ventricle, accompanied by normal or increased contractility of the myocardium with a significant decrease in diastolic function.

Treatment of dilated cardiomyopathy in children

Along with innovations in the pathogenesis of dilated cardiomyopathy, the last decade has been marked by the emergence of new views on its therapy, but to date, treatment remains mainly symptomatic. Therapy is based on the correction and prevention of the main clinical manifestations of the disease and its complications: chronic heart failure, cardiac arrhythmias, and thromboembolism.

Diagnosis of dilated cardiomyopathy in children

Diagnosis of dilated cardiomyopathy is difficult, since the disease has no specific criteria. The final diagnosis of dilated cardiomyopathy is established by excluding all diseases that can lead to enlargement of the heart cavities and circulatory failure. The most important element of the clinical picture in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy is episodes of embolism, which very often lead to death of patients.

Dilated cardiomyopathy in children

Dilated cardiomyopathy is a myocardial disease characterized by a sharp expansion of the heart cavities, a decrease in the contractile function of the myocardium, the development of congestive heart failure, often refractory to treatment, and a poor prognosis.

Cardiomyopathies in children

Cardiomyopathies are a heterogeneous group of chronic, severe myocardial diseases that lead to the development of myocardial dysfunction. The term "cardiomyopathy" was first proposed by W. Brigden (1957) to define myocardial diseases of unknown origin. At present, this concept cannot be considered clearly defined; it is often given different meanings.

Treatment of myocarditis in children

The main directions of drug treatment of myocarditis are determined by the main links of the pathogenesis of myocarditis: infection-induced inflammation, inadequate immune response, death of cardiomyocytes (due to necrosis and progressive dystrophy, myocarditic cardiosclerosis), and disturbance of cardiomyocyte metabolism. It should be taken into account that in children myocarditis often occurs against the background of chronic focal infection, which becomes an unfavorable background (intoxication and sensitization of the body), contributing to the development and progression of myocarditis.

Diagnosis of myocarditis in children

The diagnosis of "myocarditis" is valid in the presence of a combination of a previous infection with one major and two minor signs. NYHA criteria are the initial stage of diagnostics of non-coronary myocardial diseases. To establish a final diagnosis in modern conditions, additional examination with visual (single-photon emission CT, magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]) or histological confirmation of the clinical (preliminary) diagnosis is necessary.

What causes myocarditis in children?

A significant role in the chronization of inflammation in chronic myocarditis is assigned to the participation in the pathological process of intracellular pathogens: viruses, chlamydia, toxoplasma. The most common pathogen of viral myocarditis is considered to be the Coxsackie B virus, which is explained by the structural similarity of enteroviruses with the cell membrane of cardiomyocytes.

Myocarditis in children

Myocarditis is a disease characterized by damage to the heart muscle of an inflammatory nature, caused by direct or mediated through immune mechanisms exposure to infection, parasitic or protozoan invasion, chemical and physical factors, and also arising from allergic, autoimmune diseases and heart transplantation.

Vegeto-vascular dystonia (neurocirculatory dystonia) in children

Neurocirculatory dystonia is the most common form of vegetoneurosis, observed mainly in older children, adolescents and young people (50-75%). Accurate statistics on vegetative-vascular dystonia is difficult, first of all, due to the insufficiently uniform approaches of practicing doctors to the criteria of diagnosis and its terminology (very often the concepts of "neurocirculatory dystonia" and "vegetative-vascular dystonia" are used as synonyms in practice).