ABSTRACT
The field of adult congenital heart disease Congenital heart disease (CHD) occurs in approximately 5 to 10 per 1000 live births.1 Over the past 50 years, improved medical and surgical therapies for children with congenital heart conditions have led to a growing population of adult patients with underlying CHD. The majority of patients, even those with complex cyanotic heart lesions, now survive into adulthood. It is estimated that there are about 800,000 to 1,200,000 adult patients in the United States with underlying CHD.2,3 There are essentially three types of patients with adult CHD that the practicing cardiologist may have to face: (A) the patient with previously undiagnosed CHD. An example of this is a new patient that present with secundum atrial septal defect (ASD). (B) Patients may have prior recognized CHD in childhood, which did not require intervention, such as the patient with an uncomplicated, restrictive ventricular septal defect (VSD). (C) Commonly the most complex patients are those with prior surgical correction or palliation of underlying CHD.
