If your child has been diagnosed with heart failure, it means the heart isn’t pumping effectively, and blood isn’t circulating properly. When the heart is beating so inefficiently that fluids back into the lungs, the condition is called congestive heart failure.

There are two kinds of heart failure. With systolic heart failure, your child’s heart becomes enlarged and weak. With diastolic heart failure, a chamber of the heart becomes stiff and can’t pump efficiently. Heart failure can be congenital, such the condition sometimes called a hole in the heart, or it can be caused by diseases, such as cardiomyopathy, which prevents the heart muscle from pumping properly. Kidney disease can also cause heart failure.

If your child has heart failure, symptoms may include weight gain, shortness of breath or wheezing, fatigue, or racing heartbeat. A pediatric cardiologist may use a chest X-ray, an electrocardiogram, an echocardiogram, or lab tests to diagnose your child’s heart failure. Several medications exist to reduce heart failure symptoms, but when your child’s condition is advanced, a heart transplant may be the best option.