Even minor heart defects are associated with long-term problems in
adulthood

Date:
June 29, 2020
Source:
University of Helsinki
Summary:
Long-term morbidity as well as a lower level of education and
employment rate are common among adults who underwent congenital
heart surgery during childhood, regardless of the severity of
the defect.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Long-term morbidity as well as a lower level of education and employment
rate are common among adults who underwent congenital heart surgery
during childhood, regardless of the severity of the defect.


==========================================================================
A congenital heart defect in childhood increases the risk of chronic
diseases, such as arrhythmia and heart failure, in adulthood. The risk of
other diseases, including asthma, epilepsy and even psychiatric diseases,
is also higher than usual. These adverse effects occur regardless of
the severity of the heart defect.

These were the findings in a study published in the Journal of the
American Heart Association and carried out at the University of Helsinki
and the New Children's Hospital.

Heart malformations are the most common congenital structural defects
of an individual organ. The study encompasses all patients who underwent congenital heart surgery in Finland aged under 15, from 1966 onwards.

"The findings emphasise the importance of long-term follow-up among this patient group. Furthermore, the study highlights the extensive coverage of Finland's national databases and the excellent opportunities for follow-up studies they provide, not available in many other countries," says
Alireza Raissadati, a pediatrician specialising in pediatric cardiology.

According to another study, published in the Pediatrics journal, the
effects of heart defects also extend to the quality of life. Adults who underwent heart surgery in childhood had a lower level of education
and rate of employment than the control subjects; this was the case
especially among men.

"It was surprising to see that patients with a simple heart defect
also had a poorer socioeconomic status compared with the rest of the population," Raissadati says.

The study compared the level of education, rate of employment, marital
status and number of children between adults who had undergone heart
surgery in childhood and control subjects during a 60-year period.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Helsinki. Original
written by Miia Soininen. Note: Content may be edited for style and
length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Alireza Raissadati, Jari Haukka, Tommi Pa"tila", Heta Nieminen, Eero
Jokinen. Chronic Disease Burden After Congenital Heart Surgery: A
47‐Year Population‐Based Study With 99% Follow‐Up.

Journal of the American Heart Association, 2020; 9 (9) DOI:
10.1161/ JAHA.119.015354 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200629120149.htm

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