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Child Having A Tear In The Heart. What Does It Mean?

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Posted on Sat, 30 Jun 2012
Question: what exactly is a tear in the heart. This i being suspected in a four year old girl.
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Answered by Dr. Aashish Raghu (17 minutes later)
Hi there.

Welcome to Healthcare Magic.

Thanks for the query.

If you could kindly answer a few questions I would be in a better position to guide you.

Does the child have any health problems like blue skin, failure to gain weight, constant respiratory infections, large lip or mouth ulcers, skin peeling over hands, feet etc.?

Has the child suffered from any severe heart problem like heart attack etc. which needed resuscitation?

Tear in the heart usually indicates rupture of the walls of the heart. It is seen in people who have suffered severe heart attack where the heart wall becomes thin and tears away. This can be life threatening.

In children, those with Kawasaki disease are prone to develop heart attacks. This can be a cause of heart wall rupture though various other causes are also possible.

Hole in the heart can suggest presence of a hole which allows blue blood and red blood to communicate with each other thus causing problems in delivering required amount of oxygen to the child's body and organs.

It is best that certain investigations be done and your child referred to a leading Cardiologist or Cardiothoracic surgeon. Echocardiography or Echo is a good tool to evaluate presence of tear or hole in heart, supported by other non-invasive or invasive investigations as deemed necessary by the Heart specialist.

I hope I have answered your query. I will be available to answer your follow up queries.

Regards,
Note: For further queries related to your child health, Talk to a Pediatrician. Click here to Book a Consultation.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Aashish Raghu

Orthopaedic Surgeon

Practicing since :2011

Answered : 5482 Questions

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Child Having A Tear In The Heart. What Does It Mean?

Hi there.

Welcome to Healthcare Magic.

Thanks for the query.

If you could kindly answer a few questions I would be in a better position to guide you.

Does the child have any health problems like blue skin, failure to gain weight, constant respiratory infections, large lip or mouth ulcers, skin peeling over hands, feet etc.?

Has the child suffered from any severe heart problem like heart attack etc. which needed resuscitation?

Tear in the heart usually indicates rupture of the walls of the heart. It is seen in people who have suffered severe heart attack where the heart wall becomes thin and tears away. This can be life threatening.

In children, those with Kawasaki disease are prone to develop heart attacks. This can be a cause of heart wall rupture though various other causes are also possible.

Hole in the heart can suggest presence of a hole which allows blue blood and red blood to communicate with each other thus causing problems in delivering required amount of oxygen to the child's body and organs.

It is best that certain investigations be done and your child referred to a leading Cardiologist or Cardiothoracic surgeon. Echocardiography or Echo is a good tool to evaluate presence of tear or hole in heart, supported by other non-invasive or invasive investigations as deemed necessary by the Heart specialist.

I hope I have answered your query. I will be available to answer your follow up queries.

Regards,