Angeborene Herzfehler im Erwachsenenalter

Abstract

There is a increasing clinical and scientific interest in adults with congenital heart disease. Germany is among, if not the first country worldwide, with a structured care of adults with congenital heart disease. Due to the advances in cardiology and in heart surgery, the primarily high mortality rate of relevant congenital heart disease has declined from 80% to less than 20% during the recent decades. Currently, in Europe the estimated number of adults with congenital heart disease is between 1.2 and 2.7 Mio., and the number in Germany exceeds 180,000. Almost all congenital heart defects, either native or interventionally or surgically treated, need regular control, since even after successful primary treatment significant residua or sequels have to be expected. Optimal care of these patients begins in the childhood and must be continued down to the high adulthood. The complexity of congenital heart defects makes a multidisciplinary approach necessary. A specialized, interdisciplinary cooperation between cardiologists, pediatric cardiologists, cardiac surgeons and other specialists is mandatory.

Improving medical care and prevention in adults with congenital heart disease—reflections on a global problem—part I: development of congenital cardiology, epidemiology, clinical aspects, heart failure, cardiac arrhythmia

“…Until about 1940, 80% of children with complex CHD died within the first few years of life. Currently more than 90% of the children reach adult age (7), mainly due to substantial advances in congenital cardiology, cardiac surgery, intensive care, and pharmacotherapy (8,9). According to a large Canadian study not only the mortality of children with CHD decreased notably, but also the age of death has shifted to later in adulthood and there is a transition of a bimodal to a unimodal age distribution at death which resembles the pattern in the general population (10).…”

Pregnancy Complicated by Valvular Heart Disease: An Update

“…CHD currently accounts for ≈30% to 50% of all cardiac diseases during pregnancy. 1 Rheumatic heart disease (RHD), once the most common cause of valvular disease in the developed world, is still a common disease worldwide with ≈90% of all heart disorders in women of child‐bearing age being of rheumatic origin in non‐industrialized regions. 2 However, the clinical suspicion for RHD among expectant mothers in developed nations remains heightened given the expansion of immigration patterns worldwide.…”

Catheter-Based Interventions for the Management of Valvular Heart Disease During Pregnancy

“…Valvular aortic stenosis (AS) in the childbearing age is mostly due to congenital etiology ( Figure 1 ). 1 , 10 Rheumatic AS is more common in developing countries and occurs in conjunction with mitral valve (MV) disease in approximately 5% of pregnant women with rheumatic heart disease (RHD). 11 In congenital AS, the valve is most commonly bicuspid (95%) with a single fused commissure and uncommonly, dome-shaped unicuspid or tricuspid with 3 unseparated cusps.…”