Congenital heart disease in adults

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Definition

By Mayo Clinic staff

Congenital heart disease (congenital heart defect) is an abnormality in your heart's structure that you're born with. Congenital heart disease was often fatal, but it's far more treatable today. Although congenital heart disease is often considered a childhood condition, advances in surgical treatment mean most babies who once died of congenital heart disease survive well into adulthood.

While medical advances have improved, many adults with congenital heart disease may not be getting proper follow-up care. If you had your congenital heart defect repaired as an infant, don't consider yourself out of the woods. Find out if and when you should check with your doctor, if you're likely to have complications or if you're at greater risk of other heart problems as an adult.

Symptoms
References
  1. What are congenital heart defects? National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/chd/chd_what.html. Accessed Feb. 14, 2011.
  2. Congenital cardiovascular defects. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4565. Accessed Feb. 14, 2011.
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  4. Pillutla P, et al. Mortality associated with adult congenital heart disease: Trends in the US population from 1979 to 2005. American Heart Journal. 2009;158:874.
  5. Mettler BA, et al. Congenital heart disease surgery in the adult. Surgical Clinics of North America. 2009;89:1021.
  6. Bernstein D. Developmental biology of the cardiovascular system. In: Kliegman RM, et al. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics, 18th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/page.do?sid=1117823327&eid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-2450-7..50422-9&isbn=978-1-4160-2450-7&type=bookPage&sectionEid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-2450-7..50422-9&uniqId=235477645-9. Accessed Feb. 14, 2011.
  7. Webb GD, et al. Congenital heart disease. In: Libby P, et al, eds. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/page.do?sid=1117828709&eid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-4106-1..50064-9&isbn=978-1-4160-4106-1&type=bookPage&sectionEid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-4106-1..50064-9--cesec7&uniqId=235477645-12. Accessed Feb. 14, 2011.
  8. Anderson KP. The changing epidemiology of ventricular arrhythmias. Cardiology Clinics. 2008;26:321.
  9. Lifestyle changes for heart failure. American Heart Association. http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HeartFailure/PreventionTreatmentofHeartFailure/Lifestyle-Changes-for-Heart-Failure_UCM_306341_Article.jsp. Accessed Feb. 14, 2011.
  10. Coping with feelings. American Heart Association. http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/More/CardiacRehab/Coping-with-Feelings_UCM_307092_Article.jsp. Accessed Feb. 14, 2011.
  11. Grogan M (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Feb. 18, 2011.
DS01140 May 13, 2011

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