Original Articles
Chest pain in paediatrics: single centre experience
Authors:
Suliman Almesned ,
Qassim University, SA
About Suliman
Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery,
Medical College
Ali Al-Akhfash,
Prince Sultan Cardiac Centre, Qassim, SA
About Ali
Consultant Paediatric Cardiologist
Abdulrahman Almisnid,
University of Alberta Fellowship of Pediatric Cardiology and Prince Sultan Cardiac Centre, Qassim, SA
About Abdulrahman
Consultant Pediatric Cardiologist
Fahad Almesned
Qassim University, SA
About Fahad
Medical Student, Medical College
Abstract
Introduction: Unlike in adults, chest pain in children is usually benign, although it can be a cause of anxiety to the child and family.
Objective: Long term follow up of paediatric cases, referred to our clinic because of chest pain, since we started the paediatric cardiology service in PSCC-Qassim in 2006.
Method: A retrospective review was done of all children referred with a complaint of chest pain to the paediatric cardiology service in PSCC-Qassim from 2006 to 2018. Data were collected from the department database. Families were contacted to find out about the child’s chest pain and any other medical problems.
Results: Two hundred and forty two children were referred to our clinic for evaluation of chest pain from 2006. Of them 56% were girls. The mean age at referral was 9.1±2.4 years and the mean weight at referral was 30±12 kg. On initial presentation, only 6.6% patients reported that the chest pain had some relation to exercise. The commonest symptom was palpitation. On clinical examination, 20.6% patients had innocent murmurs. The electrocardiogram (ECG) was normal in 231 (95.4%) of the cases. Two hundred and nineteen (90.5%) cases had normal echocardiographic findings. There was no statistical significance between the presence of a murmur and abnormal echocardiographic findings. Follow up was done through telephone contact of families of cases seen in the clinic. The mean age at follow up was 12.8 ± 3.3 years. One hundred and ninety five (80.6%) stated that their children no longer have any chest pain. Forty eight (19.8%) reported that their children still had nonspecific chest pain that did not interfere with their day to day activities. Thirteen (5.4%) stated that their children had other medical problems like asthma, anaemia and hyperthyroidism. None of them reported sudden cardiac death in any of the children.
Conclusions: In this study carried out in the paediatric cardiology service in PSCC-Qassim, chest pain in children was benign. Follow up reported no sudden cardiac deaths in any of our cases.
Sri Lanka Journal of Child Health, 2021; 50(1): 83-86
How to Cite:
Almesned, S., Al-Akhfash, A., Almisnid, A. and Almesned, F., 2021. Chest pain in paediatrics: single centre experience. Sri Lanka Journal of Child Health, 50(1), pp.83–86. DOI: http://doi.org/10.4038/sljch.v50i1.9407
Published on
05 Mar 2021.
Peer Reviewed
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