Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD)

Due to the ongoing success in the management of congenital heart disease, the number of survivors has grown steadily over the last decades. As such, the number of adults has surpassed the total number of children with congenital heart disease. The growth of this population creates new health care demands that include ease of access, a well-organized transition pathway as well as multidisciplinary and specialized care which currently is not universally available in adult centers. In this review, we provide background information and general consideration for the management of these patients as well as specific nuances related to management of the most common lesions. More importantly, emphasis should be placed on the recognition of these patients as a special population and the necessary requirements to organize their care so effective transition and multidisciplinary care could be delivered.