Adult and Children's Congenital Heart Disorders
A congenital heart disorder is one that is inborn or existing at birth. It occurs because a part of the heart or vascular system didn’t develop normally prior to birth. These disorders can affect blood flow and other aspects of heart and vascular health later in life.
Due to advances in cardiac surgery, there about 1 million adults in the United States who have survived congenital heart defects, according to the Adult Congenital Heart Association, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of adults with congenital heart defects. Many of those adults would not have previously survived childhood.
Offering a complete continuum of care, Loyola treats both children and adults with congenital heart disorders. Today, approximately 500 patients ranging in age from 15 to 86 years are enrolled in Loyola's Adult Congenital Heart Clinic. Loyola is one of only a few institutions to offer a program in which cardiologists follow a child with a congenital heart condition into adulthood.
The complications and range of issues in adults with congenital heart disease can be very difficult to manage and may require special expertise. Loyola's clinic includes physicians who are experts in echocardiography, interventional cardiac catheterization, interventional cardiac electrophysiology, pulmonary hypertension and complex congenital heart surgery. Additional experts in high-risk pregnancies, genetics, fetal echocardiography, gastrointestinal and liver disease, pulmonary and hematology also are available to patients.Children are treated at the Ronald McDonald® Children’s Hospital of Loyola University Medical Center, where Loyola health-care providers are helping children with heart and vascular problems live active, normal lives. The experienced team of pediatric cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons knows just what it takes to identify and, when necessary, correct heart problems as early in a child’s life as possible — as early as 20 weeks into pregnancy. Early diagnosis gives everyone the opportunity to prepare for possible complications during delivery.
The commitment of Loyola's heart team to its patients goes beyond providing basic health care. Educational resources are provided to both patients and families, addressing the physical, medical and psychosocial aspects of this disease.
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For an appointment or for more information about Adult and Children's Congenital Heart Disorders, call (888) LUHS-888.