The heart is a complex organ made of four chambers: arteries, capillaries, veins and muscle. KidsHealth.org reports that the heart pumps 2,000 gallons of blood through about 60,000 miles of blood vessels several times a day. At about 100,000 beats per day, about 2.5 billion heartbeats occur in 70 years. Diseases the heart can experience include rhythm irregularities, heart attack, valve disorders and congenital defects.
Angina
Angina is a sensation of pressure or pain when the heart muscle is oxygen deprived. Types of angina include stable and unstable with unstable angina as the most serious. CardioSmart, a patient education site of the American College of Cardiology, reports symptoms of unstable angina include tightness, pain or pressure in the chest, shortness of breath, indigestion and a crushing feeling in the mid and upper chest area. Unstable angina requires immediate medical attention.
Aortic Stenosis
The American Heart Association describes aortic valve stenosis as a narrowing or obstruction of the aortic valve. Aortic stenosis is a heart defect, where the valve did not develop properly and symptoms may occur in infancy. Symptoms include dizziness, unusual fatigue and fainting. Aortic stenosis requires the left ventricle to pump harder than normal to push the blood past the blockage. Results caused by the increased need for pumping include an enlarged left ventricle and heart muscle damage. Aortic valve treatment includes a valvotomy (stretching the valve opening) or replacing the valve. Options for aortic valve replacement include using the child's pulmonary valve, a donor valve or a mechanical valve. Use of the child's pulmonary valve requires replacing the pulmonary valve with a donor valve. Expect lifelong medical follow-up for any child diagnosed with aortic stenosis.
Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome
UpToDate, an online educational program, reports that Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome is a condition where an extra abnormal electrical pathway exists in the heart. This abnormality produces episodes of tachycardia (a rapid heart rate). Symptoms of WPW include dizziness, fainting and palpitations. Treatment for WPW includes surgical ablation, radiofrequency ablation and medications. Surgical ablation is an option when the less invasive radiofrequency ablation or medications do not correct the malfunction.
Cardiomyopathy
Cardiomyopathy, a diseased heart muscle, results in the loss of heart muscle tone and the ability to pump blood adequately. The Texas Heart Institute reports that cardiomyopathy affects about 500,000 Americans. The most common form of cardiomyopathy is dilated cardiomyopathy that weakens the heart chamber walls. Other types of cardiomyopathy include hypertrophic (causes heart wall thickening), restrictive (limits heart muscle stretching) and ischemic (blockage of oxygen-rich blood). Symptoms include fainting, chest pains, shortness of breath and bloating. Treatment of cardiomyopathy includes a healthy lifestyle, medications specific to the type of cardiomyopathy and a heart transplant as a last resort.
