Heart Failure in Adult Patients With a History of Congenital Heart Disease

In today's world of advanced surgery, children born with congenital heart disease (CHD) are surviving into adulthood. However, the surgical procedures these children undergo do not cure the underlying problem and this these children develop other heart problems later in life. Heart failure is the one of the most common heart problems effecting these patients. This heart failure can be seen in both lower pumping chambers of the heart, however, sometimes only one side of the heart is affected. Since there are several congenital heart defects that are now seen in the adult population, an understanding of what causes heart failure in this patient population can help physicians develop better treatments for this condition. The goal of this study is to review the medical records of 350 adult patients with congenital heart disease that has developed heart failure. During this review, we plan to collect information regarding the various treatments utilized in these patients and to determine if there are any common elements regarding the development of heart failure in adult patients with CHD.