Clinical approach and management of congenital heart disease in the adolescent and adult

The different congenital lesions that we encounter in adolescents and adults are grouped in this paper, according to presence or absence of cyanosis, anatomic and physiologic abnormalities, and pulmonary blood flow (as assessed by chest x-rays). Before discussing the different congenital lesions, we want to express three important qualifications. First, our outlined incidence of the different congenital heart conditions seen in adolescents and adults is selective from the Mayo Clinic, and we do not imply that it represents the true incidence in other institutions in the United States and abroad. Second because of the scope of this chapter, we purposely avoid discussing those conditions which in our experience are very rarely seen in adolescents or adults. Third, because of limitations in space, we cannot discuss the large number of patients with congenital heart disease who had cardiac surgery at an earlier age and are now seen for follow-up in adolescence or adulthood.