Congenital Heart Disease

Abstract

June 2008

Section 1 Cardiovascular Medicine

XV Congenital Heart Disease

Heather L. Bartlett, M.D.,
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Director, Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship Program, University of Iowa

Larry T. Mahoney, M.D.,
Professor of Pediatrics and Director of Pediatric Cardiology, University of Iowa College of Medicine

David J. Skorton, M.D.,
President, Cornell University and Professor, Department of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Weill-Cornell Medical College

Congenital diseases of the heart and vasculature are the most common birth defects, occurring in approximately eight per 1,000 live births. Some patients with congenital heart defects (CHDs) remain asymptomatic for many years thanks to the impressive progress in medical and surgical management made in recent decades. This relatively high incidence, coupled with improved management, has resulted in a large adult population of patients with congenital heart disease. There are now more adults than children with congenital heart disease. A broad range of clinicians must now become more knowledgeable about the care of these patients, including issues such as the recently revised guidelines for endocarditis prophylaxis. This chapter reviews the CHDs most likely to be encountered in adult patients, including atrial septal defects, atrioventricular septal defects, ventricular septal defects, patent ductus arteriosus, bicuspid aortic valve, pulmonic stenosis, coarctation of the aorta, Eisenmenger syndrome, tetralogy of Fallot, dextro-transposition of the great arteries, the univentricular heart, and Ebstein anomaly of the tricuspid valve. Figures illustrate the anatomy and the repair of selected defects. This chapter contains 32 references.

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