Acyanotic Heart Disease (AHD)
Congenital heart disease (congenital heart defect) is one or more abnormalities in your heart's structure that you're born with. This most common of birth defects can alter the way blood flows through your heart. Defects range from simple, which might cause no problems, to complex, which can cause life-threatening complications.
Advances in diagnosis and treatment mean most babies who once died of congenital heart disease survive well into adulthood. However, signs and symptoms of the condition can occur in adults later in life, even those who had treatment as a child. If you have congenital heart disease you might need care throughout your life. Check with your doctor to determine how often you should be seen as an adult.
Some congenital heart defects cause no signs or symptoms. For some people, signs or symptoms occur later in life. They can recur years after you've had treatment for a heart defect. Researchers aren't sure what causes most congenital heart disease, which develops in the womb. Heredity might play a role in some congenital heart disease. For some adults, problems with their heart defects arise later in life, even if treated in childhood. Repairing defects improves heart function, but might not make the heart completely normal.
Even if the treatment you received in childhood was successful, a problem can occur or worsen as you age. It's also possible that problems in your heart, which weren't serious enough to repair when you were a child, have worsened and now require treatment. Then there are complications of childhood surgeries to correct congenital heart disease that can occur later, such as scar tissue in your heart that contributes to an abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia).
Advances in diagnosis and treatment mean most babies who once died of congenital heart disease survive well into adulthood. However, signs and symptoms of the condition can occur in adults later in life, even those who had treatment as a child. If you have congenital heart disease you might need care throughout your life. Check with your doctor to determine how often you should be seen as an adult.
Some congenital heart defects cause no signs or symptoms. For some people, signs or symptoms occur later in life. They can recur years after you've had treatment for a heart defect. Researchers aren't sure what causes most congenital heart disease, which develops in the womb. Heredity might play a role in some congenital heart disease. For some adults, problems with their heart defects arise later in life, even if treated in childhood. Repairing defects improves heart function, but might not make the heart completely normal.
Even if the treatment you received in childhood was successful, a problem can occur or worsen as you age. It's also possible that problems in your heart, which weren't serious enough to repair when you were a child, have worsened and now require treatment. Then there are complications of childhood surgeries to correct congenital heart disease that can occur later, such as scar tissue in your heart that contributes to an abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia).
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