Adults with congenital heart disease: what every cardiologist should know about their care.

Abstract

As patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) continue to enjoy longer lives, non-congenital cardiologists and other healthcare professionals are increasingly encountering them in their practice and are challenged by their specific needs. Most under- and post-graduate medical training tends to overlook this common pathology, resulting in insufficient awareness of post-repair or post-palliation residual lesions and sequelae from previous interventions. In a strive towards improving the quality of care for this ever-growing cardiovascular patient cohort, it is prudent to outline the areas of concern and specific management needs pertaining to adult patients with CHD and share it with non-CHD professionals. The purpose of this paper is to offer essential guidance to physicians, including cardiologists, when they encounter a patient with CHD in a non-congenital healthcare setting.