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Review
. 2024 Jan 4;14(1):66.
doi: 10.3390/jpm14010066.

Adult Congenital Heart Disease in the Emergency Department

Rachel A Lindor  1 , Kim Heller  1 , Nicole R Hodgson  1 , Patrick Kishi  1 , Jessica Monas  1 , Douglas Rappaport  1 , Aaron Thomas  1 , Andrej Urumov  1 , Laura E Walker  2 , David S Majdalany  3
Affiliations
Review

Adult Congenital Heart Disease in the Emergency Department

Rachel A Lindor et al. J Pers Med. .

Abstract

While congenital heart disease historically was a pathology primarily restricted to specialized pediatric centers, advances in technology have dramatically increased the number of people living into adulthood, the number of complications faced by these patients, and the number of patients visiting non-specialized emergency departments for these concerns. Clinicians need to be aware of the issues specific to patients' individual congenital defects but also have an understanding of how typical cardiac pathology may manifest in this special group of patients. This manuscript attempts to provide an overview of this diverse but increasingly common group of adult patients with congenital heart diseases, including a review of their anatomical variants, the complications they face at the highest rates, and ways that emergency physicians may need to manage these patients differently to avoid causing harm.

Keywords: adult congenital heart disease; emergency department.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Atrial switch: DTGA s/p atrial switch and LTGA have systemic RV pumping to aorta.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Arterial switch: D-DTGA s/p arterial switch, LV is systemic ventricle.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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