Varying Heart Beat, Pressure In Chest. Family History Of Heart Problems. Worn Holter Monitor. Should I Go Back To Doctor?

Posted on Thu, 6 Sep 2012

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 6 Sep 2012 Answered on

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : my 5 yr old daughter has been complaining for months of her heart beeping (her words) really slow and less often really fast, the times it beeps fast it really hurts afterwards for a couple of minutes. The Dr had her wear a holter monitor for 24 hrs and to press a button if she felt anything, she pressed it 15 times and the Dr said every time she pressed it something was happening, sometimes a couple of extra beats and when it beeped slow he said it showed pauses of 2 seconds.Because it was only 2 second pauses he said it was nothing to worry about, he said perhaps she was just anxious, which she is not. she is a very happy and well balanced child. She has also complained of her heart squeezing and she said once it pushed sideways instead of beating in and out, (she is a very descriptive child) her grandfather had a pacemaker, the Dr said not to worry but I worry a lot because it happens at least 10 times on a daily basis. Should I go back to the Dr again? Very worried Mum

Answered by Dr. Ram Choudhary (1 hour later)

Hi AAAA
Thanks for posting your query.
You have enough reason to be worried.
A arrhythmia in a child of that age is not normal.
Pauses of greater than 3 seconds are important criteria for adults but children have a faster heart rate so even 2 seconds is also important.
In causes there can be developmental anomalies, Myopathy and most important, an intercurrent viral infection.
You should get the ECHO and Cardiac markers levels done and get her evaluated by a cardiologist. She may be suffering from sick sinus syndrome also.
If the things do not worsen then repeat the ECHO & ECG after 6months.
Hope I have answered your query.
If you have any questions I will be happy to answer.
Please close the query if you have no other questions.
I wish your son a good health.

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