Paul F Kantor, Jane Lougheed, Adrian Dancea, Michael McGillion, Nicole Barbosa, Carol Chan, Rejane Dillenburg, Joseph Atallah, Holger Buchholz, Catherine Chant-Gambacort, Jennifer Conway, Letizia Gardin, Kristen George, Steven Greenway, Derek G Human, Aamir Jeewa, Jack F Price, Robert D Ross, S Lucy Roche, Lindsay Ryerson, Reeni Soni, Judith Wilson, Kenny Wong
Pediatric heart failure (HF) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in childhood. This article presents guidelines for the recognition, diagnosis, and early medical management of HF in infancy, childhood, and adolescence. The guidelines are intended to assist practitioners in office-based or emergency room practice, who encounter children with undiagnosed heart disease and symptoms of possible HF, rather than those who have already received surgical palliation. The guidelines have been developed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology, and are accompanied by practical Recommendations for their application in the clinical setting, supplemented by online material...
December 2013: Canadian Journal of Cardiology