Adult Congenital Heart Disease is a condition or defect in one of more structures of the heart or within the blood vessels, that an individual is born with. In many cases these birth defects go undetected until adulthood. 1 in every 150 adults, generally have some form of congenital heart disease.
Symptoms
Symptoms of congenital heart disease may present themselves at any time, before birth, during adolescence, or during adulthood. Depending on the type of heart defect, there may not be any detectable symptoms at all. However, the most common are shortness of breath, inability to perform physical activity or strenuous activity, chest pains, fainting, dizziness, or chronic headaches.
Diagnosis & Treatment
In order to properly diagnose any type of congenital heart defect or disease, Dr. Kohani will perform a battery of tests and examinations, mostly checking for proper structure, and functionality of the heart. Some tests that may be ordered are:
- Electrocardiograms, or EKG
- Echocardiograms
- Chest X-rays
- Intravascular ultrasounds
- Cardiac catheterization
- MRI’s
- PET scans
Depending on the type of congenital disease or defect, a different course of treatment will be recommended by Dr. Kohani. Certain mild heart defects don’t require treatment; however, they must be monitored.
Other defects may be treated with some combination of medication, repair or replacement surgery, and invasive or non-invasive forms of therapy.
