| Diagnosis of congestive heart failure in premature babies | 1801.00000000000 | Diagnosis of congestive heart failure in premature babies | Diagnosis of congestive heart failure in premature babies | D | English | Neonatology;Cardiology | Premature;Newborn (0-28 days);Baby (1-12 months) | Heart | Cardiovascular system | NA | Prenatal
Adult (19+) | NA | | 2009-10-31T04:00:00Z | | Patrick McNamara, MB, BCh, BAO, FRCPC | | | | 10.2000000000000 | 52.2000000000000 | 615.000000000000 | | Flat Content | Health A-Z | <p>Read about congestive heart failure in premature babies. This condition occurs when an insufficient amount of blood is pumped out of the heart. </p> | <p>In premature babies, the myocardium, or heart muscle, is still developing and may not contract forcefully enough. As a result, not enough blood is pumped out of the heart. Medically, this is described as a diminished cardiac output. The result of this heart weakness is that not enough oxygen is delivered to the body. This condition is called congestive heart failure. Diagnosis usually involves detecting and recording changes in the baby's heart and body, and conducting various diagnostic tests.</p> | | <h2>Key points</h2>
<ul><li>In congestive heart failure, not enough blood is pumped out of the heart because the muscle is too weak, resulting in not enough oxygen is delivered to the body.</li>
<li>Detecting and recording changes in a baby's heart and body will help lead to a diagnosis of congestive heart failure.</li>
<li>Congestive heart failure can be caused or complicated by asphyxia, patent ductus arteriosus, sepsis, and hypoglycemia.</li>
<li>Diagnostic tests for congestive heart failure include an echocardiogram, blood gases measuring, white blood cell count, and additional blood tests to look for other metabolic imbalances.</li></ul> | <p>Congestive heart failure sounds alarming, but in most cases the condition is treatable, though serious.</p>
<figure class="asset-c-80">
<span class="asset-image-title">Congestive heart failure X-ray</span>
<img src="https://assets.aboutkidshealth.ca/akhassets/Congestive_heart_failure_XRAY_MEDIMG_PHO_EN.png" alt="X-ray of normal heart and x-ray of enlarged heart in congestive heart failure" />
<figcaption class="asset-image-caption">In congestive heart failure, the heart muscle is not able to contract forcefully enough. To compensate for this, the chambers of the heart become enlarged to increase the volume of blood each beat propels though the system.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Lacking oxygen, a baby’s body will try to compensate in various ways, including:</p><ul><li>The heart may beat faster and the baby’s blood pressure may be abnormally low.</li><li>The chambers of the heart may enlarge in an attempt to increase the volume of blood each beat propels though the system. This can be detected with X-rays and other imaging technology.</li><li>Blood flow may be directed to the vital organs at the expense of the extremities. If this is the case, heart beat pulses, which can be felt through the skin, will get progressively and significantly weaker moving from the body to the hands and feet. Additionally, blood flow to the skin will suffer. As a reduced amount of blood is reaching the capillaries near the skin, the pink tinge the blood gives the skin will also be reduced, which may make the baby seem pale.</li><li>Lack of oxygenated blood may trigger faster breathing, which can lead to respiratory distress.</li></ul><p>Detecting and recording these changes will help lead to a diagnosis of congestive heart failure.</p><h2>Other diagnostic tests</h2><p>Poor heart function leading to low cardiac output can be caused or further complicated by several other factors. The most common are:</p><ul><li>asphyxia, which is a lack of oxygen getting into the blood</li><li>patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), a delayed closure of the blood vessel that supplies oxygenated blood to the fetus during the pregnancy</li><li>sepsis, which is an infection of the blood</li><li>hypoglycemia, which is a low blood sugar level</li></ul><p>For this reason, various tests will be done when a baby has low cardiac output:</p><ul><li>A heart scan (echocardiogram) may be done to see how well the heart is pumping and document the presence or absence of a PDA.</li><li>Blood gases will be measured to monitor the levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the baby’s blood.</li><li>A white blood cell (WBC) count will be taken to look for possible signs of infection.</li><li>Additional blood tests will look for other metabolic imbalances that may either be causing or further complicating the low cardiac output.</li></ul><h4>More information</h4><ul><li>
<a href="/Article?contentid=1586&language=English">Congestive heart failure in premature babies</a></li><li>
<a href="/Article?contentid=1838&language=English">Treatment of congestive heart failure in premature babies</a></li></ul> | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | https://assets.aboutkidshealth.ca/akhassets/Congestive_heart_failure_XRAY_MEDIMG_PHO_EN.png | Diagnosis of congestive heart failure in premature babies | | False | | | | | |
