Diagnostics and therapy of congenital heart defects:

About 1% of all children are born with a heart defect. In the majority of cases of congenital heart defects, these are initially harmless findings that only need to be checked with regard to their course. Small holes between the antechambers or the main chambers of the heart are particularly worth mentioning here. In addition, there are many other congenital heart defects that occur significantly less often, but some of which also require medication and cardiac catheterization or surgery. The first step in diagnostics is the clinical examination with auscultation and subsequent echocardiography.

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Clarification of syncope (fainting):

A syncope is a short-term loss of consciousness (fainting). This often has harmless causes, such as getting up quickly when there is insufficient drinking, often in teenage years. Sometimes cardiac arrhythmias are also responsible, which has to be clarified further, e.g. with a 24-hour ECG.

 

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24-hour ECG:

A normal “standard ECG” only shows the heart rhythm for a few seconds. If you have an irregular heartbeat or if you suspect it, it is often necessary to record the heartbeat over a whole day. For this purpose, ECG electrodes are glued to the chest and connected to a small device the size of a small smartphone and the patient can move around at home or at school, play sports etc. After 24 hours, the device is removed and the recording is made evaluated by a cardiologist.

 

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Stress tests:

In addition to the heart rhythm, the physical performance can be examined in the exercise examination. By comparing the data with healthy children, any limitations in performance and their causes can be identified and objectified. After surgery, for example, an improvement in resilience can be shown. A medication can also be set under control of the stress parameters.

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Sports fitness examination:

Sport is healthy. Nevertheless, one hears again and again in competitive sports of sudden cardiac death, for example from professional footballers. The reason for this can be an undetected heart thickening (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy). For competitive sports-oriented children, we offer preventive check-ups using an EKG and cardiac ultrasound in order to be able to recognize and treat such a disease at an early stage.

 

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Clarification of chest pain:

While chest pain (chest pain) can often be the first sign of reduced blood flow to the heart muscle in adults, the heart is rarely the cause of the pain in children and adolescents. Often it is harmless pain of the musculoskeletal system (transition from ribs to breastbone), rhythm disturbances in the 24-hour ECG and possibly also in the exercise examination can also be excluded here. This can also show signs of poor blood flow to the heart muscle during exertion.

 

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Second opinions:

Uncertainty is often great, especially in the case of heart diseases and any necessary surgical treatments. We are happy to offer you another look at the findings to give you the greatest possible security with regard to the need for therapy.

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Participation of the heart in other diseases:

Many other diseases can also affect the heart - for example in metabolic diseases, connective tissue diseases, rheumatic diseases or even after chemotherapy.

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