Is it worth worrying about sinus tachycardia in children and adolescents?

Is the heart palpitations dangerous for a child and a teenager? The answer to the question does not have an unambiguous answer.

The prognosis for life depends on the reason for the symptom, and whether the treatment was performed correctly.

Therefore, it is important for any parent to know the information presented in this article.

What is an

Tachycardia is a condition in which the heart rate increases. With the sinus form of , the indicator increases by 10-60% above the age norm.

There are three degrees of sinus tachycardia in a child - mild( moderate), medium and severe.

For each age group, there is a normal heart rate, or heart rate.

Prevalence of

Up to 16 years, the body undergoes major changes. During these years, the heart increases 10 times or more. The most intensive growth occurs in the first year of life and from 13 to 16 years. As a result of this , there is an increased blood pressure , which is caused by the immaturity of the vessels with an increasing volume of the heart.

Is it dangerous

Sinus tachycardia in children and adolescents - is not an independent disease, but a symptom of .Increased heart rate often indicates diseases - heart failure, left ventricular dysfunction, as well as anemia, hypoglycemia, tumors, diseases of the central nervous system, etc.

Such a violation sometimes leads to vegetative-vascular dystonia of the hypertonic type, cardiac pathologies. Therefore, children with sinus tachycardia need to observe .

Reasons for

Separate physiological and pathological( cardiac, extracardiac) sinus tachycardia.

Physiological and pathological extracardiac tachycardia arises as the heart reaction to the non-cardiac stimuli .

Causes of physiological tachycardia:

• physical, psychoemotional loads;
• fear;
• increase in the temperature of the environment in which the person resides;
• plentiful food, drink;
• lack of oxygen in the room;
• high-altitude hypoxia caused by oxygen starvation due to low partial pressure of oxygen in the air.

Extracardiac pathological tachycardia is triggered by internal factors - fever, a drop in glucose, oxygen in the blood in anemia, lung diseases, thyrotoxicosis, pheochromocytoma( tumor disease), and the intake and overdose of certain medicines.

This tachycardia proceeds in a moderate type at rest and is characterized by a strong increase in heart rate during normal physical and psychoemotional loads. The disorder usually affects girls aged 7-12 years old .

Cardiac sinus tachycardia is associated with heart diseases - inflammatory( pericarditis of the heart, myocarditis in children, endocarditis), ischemic necrosis( myocardial infarction, ischemic disease), degenerative, dystrophic sclerotic processes in the organ. Also occurs when there is a lack or excess of potassium, a lower content of magnesium.

Common causes of tachycardia at school age are:

• experiences;
• physical activity;
• puberty and related changes in the body;
• iron deficiency anemia.

Causes rapid heartbeat in infants can swaddling, overheating, strong crying.

Read more about pediatric tachycardia from video:

Symptoms and signs

The main symptom of tachycardia is heart palpitations, which can be accompanied by dizziness, weakness, fatigue .In some children, tachycardia occurs without any external manifestations.

If dyspnea, pain or a feeling of squeezing in the chest, darkening in the eyes, fainting is added to the above symptoms, then this requires a doctor and examination. Other risk factors - the duration of the attack more than 5 minutes, the presence of heart disease.

Survey

Diagnostics includes the following activities:

• general blood test - determines the composition of blood and allows to identify leukemia, anemia, other dangerous pathologies;
• blood test for thyroid-stimulating hormones - shows abnormalities in the thyroid gland;
• urine analysis for epinephrine - excludes or confirms the hormonal nature of the symptom;
• ECG, or electrocardiogram - according to the frequency and rhythm of the heartbeats find changes that are characteristic of various cardiac ailments;
• ECG Holter( round-the-clock observation) - shows how the heart works under different loads( at rest, in motion, in sleep);
• veloergometry - a study of the work of the heart during exercise;
• Heart echocardiogram or ultrasound examination - reveals the pathology of the sinus node;
• electrophysiological study - reveals conduction disorders;
• electroencephalography( EEG) of the brain - detects the ailments of the central nervous system.

Here's what the sinus tachycardia looks like in children on ECG:

Treatment of

With rapid heartbeat, the child receives first aid:

1. Relieve neck and chest from clothes - unbutton the collar, take off the sweater, scarf, etc.
2. Those present in the room are asked to leave, ensure the influx of fresh air, take the child out onto the street.
3. Give a quick drink of soda water.
4. If the child is older than two years, apply a cold compress on the forehead, neck. Newborn this measure is contraindicated!

An effective method of restoring the heart rate is to ask the patient to inhale air, strain the abdominal muscles and not breathe as much as he can( Valsalva test).

In case of a repeated attack, call the medical team .Perhaps to stabilize the state will require the introduction of medicines.

Treatment of pediatric tachycardia consists mainly of the appointment of sedatives, BAA, based on valerian, vitamin preparations , which are selected by a doctor.

If the cause of the change in the heart, the cardiac glycosides are shown. With iron deficiency anemia appoint drugs with iron.

If the tachycardia caused the disease, the symptom disappears after eliminating the root cause of .For example, with an increase in heart rate due to fever, the condition is normalized after a drop in temperature.

In some cases, there is a need for intervention. The reason for this is thyrotoxicosis and pheochromocytoma. Then remove part of the gland that produces excess hormones. Operations are carried out and with certain cardiac pathologies.

Forecast

Forecast in most cases - favorable .Most often, tachycardia attacks take place without medical intervention.

Prevention

For the normal health of , the following measures are recommended:

• maintaining a healthy weight - extra pounds load the heart;
• regular exercise;
• limited use of products containing caffeine;
• healthy food, with a limited amount of fat and fast carbohydrates;
• quiet atmosphere in the educational institution and at home;
• rejection of bad habits - smoking, alcohol, which intensify the manifestations of tachycardia.

As can be seen, the health of a child depends on the attention of the parents and the adequate, timely treatment of .Therefore, with frequent attacks of tachycardia the child should be shown to the doctor. Then the chances of a full recovery are increasing.