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What Causes Increased Heart Rate In An Infant?
Question: Hi Dr. My almost 11 month old baby daughter's heart speeds up very quickly while she is drinking her bottle. My dad is an.oncologist and when he checked her pulse it was around 135 BPM. Then I used his stethoscope and listened to her heart while she was drinking her bottle, as I am always aware of how fast it beats while she is drinking and it was 180 bpm. I brought this up to her pediatric cardiologist who performed an echo and and EKG and both came back normal. I so fearful that she does have some sort of a heart condition with how fast her heart is beating while feeding.
Brief Answer:
Holter should be done!
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Firstly thanks for choosing HCM for your query,
One of the primary reasons for a fast heart beat after eating is that the process of digestion increases the demand of oxygen in the body and therefore the heart has to work harder to pump this additional oxygen. Although a faster heartbeat could be caused due to digestion demands it could also be an indicator of problems with the heart.A heart rate faster then 120/minutes could be a Tachy-arrhythmia.
An arrhythmia is an abnormal heart rhythm caused by a problem in the heart's electrical system, also called the cardiac conduction system.Most of the time it is indicative of either pathological or physiological problem with heart.
Ekg and 2d echo are one of the baseline tests of cardiology,As chief complaint in your case is tachycardia or palpitations,A 24 hour pediatric holter must be attached to your child,Holter is a small machine and will keep a track of his heart rate and rhythm for next 24 hours.Try to precipitate his palpitations by feeding him while holter is attached,As only then we can see the nature of faulty beats and further treatment will depend on the type of Rhythm child his having during tachy-arryhthmia.
Secondly if Holter is normal a 7 days loop recording can be done on him,Which is just like a holter attached for 7 days.
Planned interventions are better then emergency condition,Hence to be on safe side these tests should be done.
As per your question yes it can be any thing from a simple normal supraventricular tachycardia to complex arryhthmia's.
Advice
Please consult your cardiologist and get a Holter done as soon as possible.If holter and loop recorder are normal,Your child is clear from cardiac side.
Thank you.
Holter should be done!
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Firstly thanks for choosing HCM for your query,
One of the primary reasons for a fast heart beat after eating is that the process of digestion increases the demand of oxygen in the body and therefore the heart has to work harder to pump this additional oxygen. Although a faster heartbeat could be caused due to digestion demands it could also be an indicator of problems with the heart.A heart rate faster then 120/minutes could be a Tachy-arrhythmia.
An arrhythmia is an abnormal heart rhythm caused by a problem in the heart's electrical system, also called the cardiac conduction system.Most of the time it is indicative of either pathological or physiological problem with heart.
Ekg and 2d echo are one of the baseline tests of cardiology,As chief complaint in your case is tachycardia or palpitations,A 24 hour pediatric holter must be attached to your child,Holter is a small machine and will keep a track of his heart rate and rhythm for next 24 hours.Try to precipitate his palpitations by feeding him while holter is attached,As only then we can see the nature of faulty beats and further treatment will depend on the type of Rhythm child his having during tachy-arryhthmia.
Secondly if Holter is normal a 7 days loop recording can be done on him,Which is just like a holter attached for 7 days.
Planned interventions are better then emergency condition,Hence to be on safe side these tests should be done.
As per your question yes it can be any thing from a simple normal supraventricular tachycardia to complex arryhthmia's.
Advice
Please consult your cardiologist and get a Holter done as soon as possible.If holter and loop recorder are normal,Your child is clear from cardiac side.
Thank you.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Remy Koshy
Thank you for your reply. Her heart rate is actually fastest while drinking her bottle
Brief Answer:
Details below.
Detailed Answer:
Hi again,
Welcome,As said earlier if report of HOLTER is normal,Heart rate to increase during feeding will be considered normal.Why to take even a slight chance when investigation is available.
Thanks.
Details below.
Detailed Answer:
Hi again,
Welcome,As said earlier if report of HOLTER is normal,Heart rate to increase during feeding will be considered normal.Why to take even a slight chance when investigation is available.
Thanks.
Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Nagamani Ng
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