Re: Infant Bradycardia

Posted By CCF CARDIO MD - CRC on December 22, 1998 at 18:21:22:

In Reply to: Infant Bradycardia posted by Dayna  on December 20, 1998 at 21:11:36:






My 12 week old daughter was placed in NICU 3 days after birth (she was 37 1/2 weeks at birth) due to an apneic episode during which she turned blue.  She recovered by herself from the episode.  In the NICU, she was treated for pneumonia, and was placed on oxygen due to her saturation levels continually hanging at the mid to low 80's range.  She did have several bradycardia episodes, according to the heart monitor, which were not artifacts.  Once she was able to go 24 hours without oxygen with her sats staying above 90, she was sent home with an apnea monitor.  A heart murmur was also detected at birth, and she was given a sedated echo.  This revealed that the blood vessels leading from her heart to her lungs that are not used while in the womb, had not yet expanded to normal size, and the restriction of flow from the larger vessels to the smaller was causing the sound.  The pediatric cardiologist said this was no cause for alarm, and she fully expects the vessels to enlarge with use over the next few months.  Since she has been home on the monitor, there have been very few (3) apneic events, all of which she recovered unstimulated.  However, in the last two weeks, she has been having one to five bradycardia events almost everyday, which last only a few seconds each.  All of the events happen when she is sleeping, mostly at night.  Add to all this history the fact that I had an infant daughter die of SIDS 15 months ago at the age of 3 1/2 months.  She had no abnormal symptoms at birth, or any other time, and her death took us totally by surprise, as SIDS deaths do.  The autopsy revealed no apparent cause of death.  Should I be concerned with the onset of these bradycardia events?  Is my daughter at higher risk of SIDS since her sister died of SIDS 15 months ago?  I have been told numerous times by physicians that there is no "proven" correlation between SIDS and apnea/heart rate episodes, but this doesn't make me rest any easier.  Thanks.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Dear Dayna,
Thank you for your question.  I certainly understand your concerns and fears.   This question is somewhat out of my area of expertise (adult cardiology) but what I know is that bradycardia can be caused by low oxygen levels in the blood.  This problem sounds like it is more breathing related than heart related.  Infants are sometimes born with slow heart rates requiring pacemakers but this slow heart rate is present all the time and not periodically.  I would recommend continued close follow-up with her doctor and continuing to follow his advise.  God bless.
I hope you find this information useful.  Information provided in the heart forum is for general purposes only.  Only your physician can provide specific diagnoses and therapies.  Please feel free to write back with additional questions.
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter.  The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.