Hopes for children’s heart disease

Scientists have uncovered some of the causes and outcomes of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a commonly untreatable and undetected heart muscle disease in children.

DCM occurs when the left chamber of the heart becomes enlarged and cannot pump blood properly, usually resulting in heart failure.

Other forms of the condition can result in sudden, unexpected cardiac death.

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital found that the underlying causes, outcomes and frequencies of DCM in children parallel those in adults with DCM.

They identified the causes of the condition in 35 per cent of the 1,400 cases studied, with the most common being inflammation of the heart (myocarditis).

But the origins of the remaining two-thirds of cases remain unknown.

The scientists did, however, find that children less than one year old were almost ten times more likely to develop DCM than at any other age during childhood.

Children’s survival rates were found to be roughly the same as in adults with the condition; approximately 70 per cent live beyond the first year of the onset of the disorder and only 50 per cent survive past five years.

As roughly one-third of all DCM cases are genetic in origin, lead author Dr Jeffrey Towbin advised that people with a family history of DCM be tested for the condition.

“Even though we can’t always determine what the cause is, we know if it’s inherited,” he said. “With an early diagnosis, we can begin therapy and assess whether transplantation is necessary.”

Although the findings are said to represent a major step towards understanding DCM, Dr Towbin added that much more work is needed and support for research into it is vital.

“Despite advances in diagnosis and treatment, we are still having significant problems with outcomes in these children just like we are in adults,” he concluded.