Overview
Childhood neoplasms of the heart are rare tumors that arise in the heart during childhood. These tumors can be congenital or acquired and may be associated with genetic syndromes.Diagnosis
Diagnostic modalities may include echocardiography, cardiac MRI, and CT scans 1.
Histopathological examination of tumor tissue is essential for definitive diagnosis and classification 1.Management
Treatment strategies depend on the tumor type, size, location, and presence of metastasis 1.
Surgical resection is often the primary treatment modality for resectable tumors 1.
Chemotherapy and radiation therapy may be used as adjunctive treatments or for unresectable or metastatic disease 1.Special Populations
Prenatal and early life environmental factors, including maternal nutrition, smoking, and exposure to pollutants, have been associated with epigenetic changes that may contribute to disease development in children 1.Key Recommendations
Prenatal and early life environmental factors are associated with epigenetic changes, specifically DNA-methylation, which may contribute to later-in-life diseases in children 1.
Maternal factors such as nutrition, smoking, and exposure to air particulate matter, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, arsenic, heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants, and some endocrine disruptors during pregnancy have been linked to genomic and gene-specific newborn DNA-methylation changes 1.
These maternal factors may deregulate placental DNA-methylation balance and induce fetal reprogramming, potentially leading to diseases later in life 1.References
1 Alvarado-Cruz I, Alegría-Torres JA, Montes-Castro N, Jiménez-Garza O, Quintanilla-Vega B. Environmental Epigenetic Changes, as Risk Factors for the Development of Diseases in Children: A Systematic Review. Annals of global health 2018. link