Congestive Heart Failure in Children
Alternate Names : CHF in Children
How is the condition diagnosed?
Congestive heart failure is diagnosed on the basis of the child's
medical history and physical exam. Identification of the underlying disease may
require special tests, including:
electrocardiogram, or ECG,
which graphs the electrical activity of the heart
chest X-ray, which may reveal an
abnormally enlarged heart
echocardiography, which uses
ultrasound waves to provide information about the structure, function, and
motion of the heart
cardiac catheterization, which
involves injection of a contrast agent to allow the doctor to watch the blood
flow through the heart and its arteries
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