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kidshealth library

health & safety topics

Your child's health and safety is our top priority. Please search our resource library for information on health, nutrition, fitness, injury prevention and other important topics.

Heart & Blood Vessels

Blood Types

Categorizing blood according to type helps prevent reactions when someone gets a blood transfusion. Find out how blood types work.

Body Basics: The Heart (Slideshow)

Learn how this amazing muscle pumps blood throughout the body.

Cardiac Arrest

Cardiac arrest is when changes in the normal electrical activity of the heart make it suddenly stop beating. Quick medical care is essential.

Cardiac Catheterization

Cardiac catheterization helps doctors perform diagnostic tests on the heart and even treat some heart conditions.

Cardiac Stents

Cardiac stents are very small mesh wire tubes that hold blood vessels open so that blood can flow through the vessels normally. Find out about the procedure to place a stent.

Cardiomyopathy

Cardiomyopathy is when the heart muscle becomes weak and enlarged. This makes it hard for the heart to pump blood through the body. Treatments can help with the symptoms and sometimes stop it from getting worse, but usually there's no cure.

Chest Pain in Kids and Teens

In kids and teens, chest pain can happen for many reasons. Often, it will go away with little or no treatment.

Chylous Ascites

Chylous ascites is when chyle collects in the belly. Depending on what's causing it, doctors can treat chylous ascites and often cure it.

Coarctation of the Aorta

Coarctation of the aorta (COA) is a narrowing of the aorta, the major blood vessel that carries blood away from the heart to the body.

Congenital Heart Defects

Heart defects happen when there's a problem with a baby's heart development during pregnancy. Most heart defects can be treated during infancy.