What causes enlarged heart in a child?
Patient: My 10 year old boy was having fever 3 days back and the dr gave him a course of antibiotic. today is the 4th day and his fever was still 39 and is having a very bad cough. I took him again to the Dr. today who sent him for an X-ray to check the lungs. The Dr. then said that she found that the size of the heart is big for his age and said will send the x-ray to the cardiologist to view it. I am very worried now and would like to know what might be the resons for having enlarged heart. Doctor: Hi,  From the scenario you describe I feel that this could be a viral myocarditis which is acute in onset or the other possibility is that of a longstanding dilated cardiomyopathy which got aggravated because of the viral illness.  But whatever be the cause your child will require immediate cardiologist consultation, echocardiogram and if the ejection fraction is less then he might even require hospitalization. I am sorry to say this.  Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.  Regards, Dr. Sumanth Amperayani,  Pediatrician, Pulmonology