What is a Paediatric Cardiologist?

Your paediatrician may refer to a paediatric cardiologist if he or she has doubts about your child's heart. A paediatric cardiologist in Mumbai specializes in diagnosing and treating heart problems in children. Paediatric cardiologists work closely with paediatric heart surgeons in those children who might need heart surgery and to determine the best treatments and interventions.

Paediatric cardiologists in India are experts in diagnosing and treating various heart diseases and problems from the fetal period through adulthood, such as cardiac arrhythmias and congenital heart disease.

If you have a concern about your child's heart, please discuss it with a Paediatric Cardiologist in Mumbai.

Paediatric cardiologists are also known as Heart doctors for children in India. They typically:

• Evaluates a patient's medical history and inform the child and family about heart health and heart disease prevention
• Performs a physical exam such as evaluation of blood pressure and vital signs, weight, and the health of the lungs, heart, and blood vessels.
• Orders and analyze laboratory and imaging tests and prescribes medications
• Diagnoses and treats acute and chronic diseases and conditions that affect the child's heart and blood vessels, including congenital heart disease and arrhythmias
• Screens, treats, and supervises conditions known to enhance the risk of adult heart disease in children, such as smoking, hypertension, obesity, and high cholesterol.
• Performs various procedures, such as an echocardiogram, EKG, and cardiac catheterization
• Collaborates with your child's primary care doctor and other specialists to give optimal care

What Medical conditions and diseases do paediatric cardiologists treat?

A paediatric cardiologist in Mumbai treats conditions and diseases, including:

• Arrhythmia, an abnormal heart rhythm, where the heart beats too fast, too slow, or irregularly.
• Bacterial endocarditis, which is a type of heart infection
• Cardiomyopathy, an enlargement or weakening of the heart muscle
• Congenital heart defects, for instance, an atrial septal defect (ASD), patent ductusarteriosus (PDA), and ventricular septal defect (VSD)
• Heart syndromes such as genetic syndromes that can affect the heart, such as Marfan syndrome and Down syndrome
• Heart valve disorders involving obstructed pulmonary and aortic valves
• Kawasaki disease, which leads to heart problems including leakage of heart valves, coronary artery aneurysms, and fluid build-up around the heart
• Myocarditis leads to an inflammation of the heart.
• Pulmonary hypertension, which results in high blood pressure in the blood vessels which carry blood from the heart to the lungs
• Severe risk factors for cardiovascular conditions such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol

Should Your Child See a Paediatric Cardiologist?

Heart doctors for children in India provide care for your child under the following situations:

• If your child is suffering from severe risk factors for adult heart disease, including high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and high cholesterol.
• Your child has recent unusual changes in an EKG test.
• Your child has a type of heart disease that requires continuous monitoring and specialized care, including arrhythmia and heart valve disorders.
• Your child requires specialized heart procedures, including echocardiogram or cardiac catheterization.
• In your pregnancy, your doctor finds or suspects that your baby has a heart problem.
• Your child requires on-going management through adulthood due to surgery for congenital heart disease.
• Your child has a congenital heart disease that needs constant medical management through adulthood, such as complex arrhythmias that need a pacemaker or implantable defibrillator.

Pediatric cardiologists in Mumbai take care of patients with the following symptoms or conditions:

• Chest pain
• Cyanosis, resulting in bluish discoloration of the skin and lips.
• Dizziness
• Fainting or passing out
• Palpitations or feeling like your heart is racing.
• Shortness of breath

If your child has any of the above symptoms, visit any paediatric cardiologist in Mumbai. A doctor will diagnose the child's condition and symptoms and determine if there is a possibility your child has a heart problem.

Procedures and treatments Performed or Advised by Paediatric Cardiologist

Heart doctors for children in India will perform several procedures and treatments to manage heart and blood vessel conditions. Some paediatric cardiologists are trained heart surgeons who can perform specific invasive procedures. Your child's paediatric cardiologist in Mumbai will work with a heart (cardiothoracic) surgeon or congenital cardiac surgeon for a child's heart surgery.

Some Procedures and treatments conducted by paediatric cardiologists can include:

• Arrhythmia treatments involving management of pacemakers and defibrillators and radiofrequency ablation therapy
• To test a sample of heart tissue for disease, Cardiac biopsy is performed.
• To diagnose and treat certain heart problems, cardiac catheterization with angiography is recommended to diagnose, obstructed pulmonary and aortic valves, and to treat a PDA (patent ductusarteriosus) and septal defects (ASD and VSD)
• Intracardiac electrophysiology study (EPS) to observe the heart's electrical function
• Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) to develop a detailed picture of the heart (coronary) arteries
• Control and management of cardiac emergencies such as life-threatening arrhythmias
• Lifestyle and medical recommendations to treat heart disease

Paediatric cardiologists in Mumbai have extensive training and specialization in dealing with children and treating children with heart problems. If your paediatrician advises that your child sees a heart doctor for children in India, you could be assured that your child will receive the best possible care.