Taking a Team Approach:
Management of Adult Congenital Heart Disease
The Philadelphia Adult Congenital Heart Center was founded in 2005 as a joint program between the University of Pennsylvania Health System and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The center provides comprehensive, multidisciplinary care for the region's rapidly growing population of adults with congenital heart disease (CHD).
Thanks to advances in medical and surgical care, the first generation of children with congenital heart defects is surviving – and thriving. Nearly one million adults in the United States are now living with congenital heart defects, including an estimated 40,000 such patients right here in the Greater Philadelphia region.
Gary D. Webb, MD, one of the world's leading authorities on adult congenital heart disease and leader of the center, says: “This Center is so vital because it provides patients with access to real expertise, a multidisciplinary team of experts, so they get the kind of care they really need in adulthood. Plus, we are arming our patients with better information about their specific health problems. This information allows them to take greater charge of their own health and live normal, longer lives.”
The center team includes physicians and surgeons from anesthesiology, cardiology, cardiovascular surgery, cardiac catheterization, heart rhythm, genetics, heart failure and transplantation, imaging services, pulmonary hypertension, and reproductive services to meet the unique needs of ACHD patients.
The center welcomes ACHD patients in need of revised surgeries, as well as those with heart rhythm issues and other heart conditions. In addition to cardiac care, the center provides services to meet the unique needs of adult patients, such as family planning services, genetic counseling and obstetrical care.
The team treats many adult congenital heart conditions including:
For more information or to make an appointment, call 1-800-789-PENN (7366) or request an appointment online.
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