Adult Congenital Heart Disease Units: A Need for Attention in Congenital Heart Diseases Around the World

John Jairo Araujo

Cochair Adult Congenital Heart Disease Council in Inter American Society of Cardiology & Chapter´s president ACHD from Colombian Society of Cardiology. Somer in Care Cardiovascular Center, Pediatric and Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program, Colombia

Dr. John Jairo Araujo, Cochair Adult Congenital Heart Disease Council in Inter American Society of Cardiology & Chapter´s president ACHD from Colombian Society of Cardiology. Somer in Care Cardiovascular Center, Colombia.

Keywords: Adults Congenital Heart Disease; Heart Disease Units; Care Attention

Abstract

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most frequent malformation. In the most recent data has a prevalence of thirteen cases per 1,000 children and six cases per 1,000 adults [1]. Nowadays more adults are living with CHD than children, especially in developed countries, and over 85%, fall into the categories of moderate and high complexity defects according to the 2001 Bethesda classification [2]. Great strides in pediatric cardiovascular surgery have increased the number of survivors. Surgical and survival successes have turned the pediatric patient with CHD into an adult postoperative CHD patient. The adult CHD (ACHD) population is growing at a rate of 5-6% per year, and it is estimated that there will be 11% more per year in 2030 [3]. Currently estimate is that there are 3,000 ACHDs per million inhabitants [4]. Extrapolating these results, it is calculated that there are approximately 261,000 ACHDs in Central America, and more than 1.8 million in South America. In the United States (US), in 2010, 1.4 million ACHD were recorded vs one million children with CHD. Furthermore, the European scene shows a population of 2.3 million adults with CHD vs 1.9 million children [5].

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