Congenital Heart Disease

Advances in surgery and medication mean that more and more children born with heart defects are surviving. In addition, minor congenital heart defects that don't cause symptoms may not be diagnosed until a person is an adult or reaches middle age. It is estimated that 20,000 people with congenital heart disease reach adulthood every year in the United States.

Because people born with defects are most likely to pass on these defects to their children, it is likely that the prevalence of adults living with chronic defects will increase.

For some people with mild levels of disease, the only treatment necessary may be regular monitoring of the defect and extra precautions against infection during surgical or dental procedures. For others, treatment may range through various medication therapies up through heart and lung transplantation. UCSF Medical Center offers comprehensive care aimed at preventing complications of congenital heart conditions, repairing defects and allowing patients with heart defects to live as actively as possible.

Experts with special experience in treating adults with congenital heart disease work with heart surgeons, diagnostic specialists and other health professionals to provide quality care for even the rarest congenital defects.

Some of the most common conditions are:

• Aortic Coarctation
• Atrial Septal Defect
• Bacterial Endocarditis
• Ebstein Anomaly
• Eisenmenger's Syndrome
• Pulmonary Stenosis
• Tetralogy of Fallot
• Transposition of the Great Arteries
• Ventricular Septal Defect

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See books recommended by the UCSF Heart and Vascular Center.

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center.
Last updated November 1, 2009