DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2016.v04i08.079

Pages: 3139-3141

General Practitioners and young doctors are often faced with a dilemma of making a definite diagnosis of cardiac disease. Even when it is a definite case of heart disease, it is difficult to differentiate a congenital heart disease from acquired heart disease. Pulmonary parenchymal diseases may be mistaken for acquired heart diseases. Methemoglobinemia may also be mistaken for heart disease. At birth and during the early years in the childhood period, children have cardiac murmurs and most often they are innocent. In the olden days when investigating facilities were not good, we would have missed some cardiac disorders or we would have even over diagnosed heart diseases. In the present day world of Scientific advances using advanced ECHO and other investigation facilities we are able to detect cardiac lesions early in life and confirm them accurately. This will help the patient and the doctor for early diagnosis and appropriate treatment before complications develop. But unfortunately these facilities and expertise are not available to all the patients and doctors particularly to those who are in remote areas. Here we plan to discuss a few guidelines which would help young doctors to suspect heart diseases in children and referthem early for expert management.