Girl tired after jogging, discovered to have rare disease

(Dan Tri) - An 11-year-old girl suddenly fell into critical condition after a morning jog. At the City Children's Hospital (HCMC), the girl was suddenly discovered to have a very rare heart defect, affecting only 0.1% of the population.

That was the case of TTA (11 years old, living in An Giang ). According to the family, after running 300m for exercise in the morning, the child started to show signs of fatigue. When he returned home, A. was more tired, lethargic, pale, and had a fever, so his relatives took him to the local hospital.

Here, doctors noted that the child was lethargic, SpO2 dropped to 84%, and could not take a pulse or measure blood pressure. The child was intubated, put on a ventilator, and given vasopressors and antibiotics.

During resuscitation, the child's heart stopped once. After about a minute of emergency treatment, the heart started beating again. Paraclinical and imaging results showed that the child had acute pulmonary edema, dilated heart, and mitral valve regurgitation.

After 4 days of treatment without improvement, the child was transferred to the City Children's Hospital. According to Dr. Nguyen Minh Tien, Deputy Director of the City Children's Hospital (HCMC), at the time of admission, the child was lethargic, had low blood pressure, a fast heartbeat, and had to be given ventilator support.

Children are receiving intensive treatment at the City Children's Hospital (Photo: Hospital).

Based on the test results and echocardiogram as well as clinical manifestations, the doctors diagnosed the child with acute myocarditis, cardiogenic shock, pneumonia, and pulmonary edema. The child continued to be on a ventilator, given vasopressors, antibiotics, acid-base electrolyte adjustment, and diuretics.

After nearly 2 weeks of treatment, the child gradually improved, reduced and stopped vasopressor drugs, pneumonia improved, and began to be extubated.

However, after being taken off the ventilator, baby A. had difficulty breathing and turned purple. Chest X-ray results showed acute pulmonary edema, the child was reintubated and given vasopressors and diuretics.

From the paraclinical results, the doctors discovered that the child had an abnormality in the coronary arteries. Specifically, the child's left coronary artery originated from the right coronary sinus instead of the left coronary sinus as usual. Immediately, the team planned a heart surgery to correct the patient's heart. After the surgery, the child gradually recovered, the drainage tubes were removed, and he was successfully weaned off the ventilator.

Sharing about this case, Dr. Tien emphasized that this is a rare case in pediatric cardiology. Coronary artery malformation originating abnormally from the contralateral sinus of the aorta is a rare abnormality found in only about 0.1% of the population. This condition is very dangerous, with the risk of causing sudden cardiac death in children and athletes.

Dr. Tien recommends that for children who suddenly complain of fatigue when exerting themselves or fainting, parents should take their children to a medical facility with a cardiology specialist to check for heart problems and heart blood vessels to detect early abnormalities of the heart blood vessels, thereby receiving timely intervention and treatment.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/suc-khoe/be-gai-met-sau-khi-chay-the-duc-duoc-phat-hien-mac-benh-hiem-20251017141742157.htm