What should I do about a sinus arrhythmia in an 8 year old?

[Felecia]

My 8 year old son complained on his "heart hurting", and feeling dizzy and out of breath on several occasions so I took him to our family practice physician. She diagnosed sinus arrhythmia and the EKG confirmed.  She said its nothing to worry about. He has bad allergies and takes 10mg of Zyrtec daily. She said this didn't cause it. Why did this suddenly develop and howdo I know its not serious? Should I limit his activity, and does he need to see a Cardiologist just to be sure that the diagnosis is correct? I am an RN and when I listened to his heart at the time he was complaining, he had an extremely irregular HR with slow beats and then runs of tachycardia along with skipped beats. Later when he was okay, he had a HR of 64-87 still with the "skipped beats".

[Felecia...again]

Well, everyone thanks so much for the concerns and helpful if somewhat confusing info.  I am an R.N. and diagnosed him with sinus arrhythmia before even going to the doc. (and yes the term does sound contradictory but IT IS in my med/surg book)What worries me is how he described 2 of the occurances. 1."sometimes my heart hurts" (at the time the HR was VERY irregular with bradyc, skipped beats then runs of tachyc. and  what sounded like a systolic murmur) 2. Clutching his chest and saying my heart hurts (again), then laying down saying, "I feel like I am going to pass out, and taking gulps of air saying "its hard to get my breath".  And that COULD be anxiety...but in an 8yr old??  He does have rather bad allergies, chronic cough, enlarged tonsils etc, but no asthma/bronchospasms so far. The virus thing is interesting because he did come down with a bad flu-like bug a week or two after he first told me about it.  Could be coincidence or maybe not. I think you all are right and I will take him to a Cardio just to make sure!!! Will let you know how it turns out. And no more fighting:)

[To the Med Student]

If you don't know what Sinus Arrhythmia I suggest you get a refund back on your education.  It is the most common arrhythmia there is.  You say only "only a sustained arrythmic event would cause shortness of breath due to decrease ventricular function."  That is not true either, there are several things that cause shortness of breath.  I know this and I am not even in the medical field.  Try a search on this site for sinus arrhythmia, you might learn something today.

[Conerned 2]

To all the parent here reporting that your child has been thru a bout with a virus and then started having problems that are apparently heart related, i urge you all to get them to a cardiologist right away without anymore delay. There are introvirus' that can and do affewct the heart and can cause death. I dont want to alarm you but the facts are that these virus' are very bad for children.
  God bless and good luck

[concerned]

ive never even heard the term sinus arrythmia
and im a med student!!!
Hrv has probably replaced the term and thats what the doc
was talking about....hrv is benign and symptomless (unless you count the small temporary effect on heart rate. in fact, it has been documented that people with a higher level of hrv are healthier!!! but it definately shouldnt be causing syncope (fainting) and definately not shortness of breath!!! only a sustained arrythmic event would cause shortness of breath due to decrease ventricular function. i would definately get a second opinion...

[[email protected]]

I have an 8 year-old son who after a bout of fever for a week developed Tachycaria only on exsertion. He runs all the time and everytime he runs his heart pounds out of his chest. This is all new. He is very athletic and up to this point never had any symptoms. No chest pain and no shortness of breathe. He has no symptoms except the pounding and rapid pulse. He has had a  normal EKG and a normal Echocardiogram. Tomorrow is the stress test and I just wonder if anyone out there has the same problem with their child.

[concerned also]

i agree with concerned. (Hrv) is a condition where the interaction between the vagal nerve branch and the conduction system of the heart can temporarily speed up and slow heart rate), most people have this condition, its natural....if you hold your breath for a second, your heart rate will speed up and slow down when you exhale....but just for a few seconds....this is HRV. i dont think this has anything to do with what your son is experiencing...especially when complaining of syncope and shortness of breath....in my opinion, he needs a workup by an internist or cardio. it could be something as simple as a thyroid problem (it commonly develops around that age) that is triggering short burts of atrial fib/psvt!!