ADULT CONGENITAL HEART-DISEASE

There are approximately 500,000 adults in the United States with conge nital heart disease, and this group is growing at 5% per year. Adult c ardiologists are, for the most part, poorly trained in the treatment o f congenital heart disease; pediatric cardiologists, on the other hand , work in children's hospitals where it is difficult to care for adult s. It is important, therefore, to review the current literature as it relates to adult congenital heart disease. This report details the lon g-term follow-up of patients who were operated on in childhood for con genital heart disease and are now adults. In addition, it reviews info rmation related to the social adaptation of adult congenital heart pat ients. There are a number of interesting new reports on specific adult congenital heart anomalies. Atrial septal defects as well as the rela tionship between a patent foramen ovale and stroke are also reviewed.