The Netherlands as frontrunner of collaborative research in adult congenital heart disease

Excerpt

Adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) has become an important subspecialty in cardiology. Over the past 40 years, life expectancy of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) has greatly increased, in particular by developments in the field of cardiac surgery together with improved perioperative management and care in outpatient clinics. Up until 6 decades ago, only 15 % of patients born with CHD survived into adulthood without surgical correction. Nowadays, over 90 % of these patients are expected to survive into adulthood [1]. Due to these developments, not only the population of adults with CHD is growing in numbers, but also the proportion of patients with complex CHD steadily increases. However, residual sequelae are frequent and re-interventions are often needed later in life. It has been estimated that approximately 50 % of the ACHD patients may face the prospect of future surgery, cardiac arrhythmias, heart failure and premature death [1]. Late morbidity may influence quality of life in a considerable proportion of this population and life-long cardiac follow-up is therefore required for nearly all CHD patients. …