The Adult with Post-operative Congenital Heart Disease: a Systematic Echocardiographic Approach.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

This article attempts to review some of the commonly seen repaired congenital heart defects in the adult population (ACHD), with a focus on important echocardiographic findings that may assist a practitioner in recognizing and managing this group of patients.

RECENT FINDINGS

The prevalence of ACHD population is increasing, and currently, there are over 1 million adults with congenital heart disease. At the current time, the total number of ACHD patients exceeds the total number of pediatric patients with CHD. The recently released 2018 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines for the management of adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD) recommends transthoracic echocardiography for all ACHD patients for initial assessment and serial assessment as needed (class of recommendation: I) and echocardiography remains the mainstay for diagnosing and managing these patients in adjunct with other available imaging modalities. It is imperative for all cardiologists to be familiar with the echocardiographic features of the commonly seen repaired CHD in adult population.