ABSTRACT
There are two basic categories of congenital heart disease in adults (1). The first includes defects that have been unrecognized in childhood but were diagnosed in the adult because of newly developed symptoms or as an incidental finding during an investigation for another reason. Coarctation of the aorta (Ao) and ostium secundum atrial septal defect (ASD) are examples of this category. It also includes patients with a previously diagnosed unrepaired congenital cardiac malformation such as a bicuspid aortic valve (AoV) that evolved to significant aortic stenosis (AS) in the adult. The second category involves patients surviving to adulthood with a previously diagnosed and repaired or palliated congenital heart defect, such as the patient with tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) or transposition of the great arteries. This chapter will review common congenital heart pathologies and their general echocardiographic findings.
