Myocarditis is a common heart disease in children. It refers to the occurrence of inflammatory lesions in the myocardium due to infections, autoimmune diseases and other reasons, leading to impaired heart function, unable to work normally, and causing various symptoms throughout the body. In particular, severe myocarditis can be explosive, with cardiac insufficiency or sudden cardiogenic shock occurring within 1-2 days. The condition develops rapidly, and life is in danger if rescue is not timely.
Why do children get myocarditis? First of all, we must start with the cause of myocarditis. Most of the causes of myocarditis in children are viral infections. The main viruses are adenovirus and enterovirus. In addition, there are many other causes that can cause myocarditis. Viruses, such as herpes simplex virus, varicella and zoster virus, rubella virus, mumps virus and so on. Although myocarditis in children is mostly caused by a virus, the incidence is related to many factors, such as the type of virus, the severity of the cold, whether the treatment is timely and reasonable, the body’s condition, whether there is fatigue, poor nutrition, low resistance, etc. These may cause myocarditis.
The clinical manifestations of myocarditis vary greatly, ranging from no obvious symptoms or mild symptoms to shock, heart failure, and even sudden death. It is divided into mild, moderate, and severe.
Clinically, mild myocarditis is more common, and may be asymptomatic, or only suffer from fatigue, long venting, palpitations, chest tightness, and dizziness. The symptoms of moderate myocarditis are relatively obvious, which can be manifested as listlessness, pale complexion, chest tightness, fatigue, laziness, sweating, nausea and vomiting. Severe myocarditis can be fulminant, severe, and progress rapidly. Cardiac insufficiency or sudden cardiogenic shock can occur within 1-2 days. Older children often show extreme fatigue, dizziness, irritability, vomiting, pain or pressure in the precordial area. Some children have gastrointestinal symptoms such as abdominal pain and vomiting as their main manifestations. Infants’ symptoms are refusal to eat, annoyance, weakness, shortness of breath and groaning. The condition develops rapidly, and life is in danger if rescue is not timely.
