Heart failure therapy in children.

The most common reason for heart failure in children is volume overload secondary to a left-to-right shunt. Therefore, an accurate diagnosis with identification of possible surgical or interventional reactions should be the first priority. Medical therapy is mainly based on diuretics, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, cardiac glycosides and beta-blockers. There are few prospective trials in pediatric cardiology, but the available data reach a similar conclusion to that of adults with heart failure. Diuretics are an important tool in patients with fluid retention, and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors are helpful in patients with volume overload of the ventricles. Cardiac glycosides are still in use, but there is a trend toward primary use of diuretics. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and beta-blockers have been used successfully in the treatment of heart failure in children, but there are limited data on its efficacy.