Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program  (Adult CHD)

Lifelong care for congenital heart disease

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is more common than most people realize. Nearly 1 percent of babies born in the United States each year have CHD, making it one of the most frequently diagnosed birth defects. But unlike childhood, many cardiac issues cannot be outgrown.

As younger patients grow into adulthood, other health problems can occur, including arrhythmia, heart failure, sudden cardiac arrest or stroke. Because some forms of CHD often require lifelong medical attention—and other forms don’t show symptoms until adulthood—Arkansas Children’s Heart Institute provides personalized care to patients of all ages.

The Arkansas ACHD Program cares for patients with all types of Congenital Heart Disease. Currently, more than 1,100 patients are followed, many of whom have been treated at Arkansas Children's since childhood. New patients are often seen as the result of second opinion requests. Our program can also work closely with local adult cardiologists to offer co-management in some cases. 

Possible Conditions

• Aortic valve anomalies
• Aortopathies and aneurysms
• Atrial septal defect
• Coarctation of the aorta
• Congenital aortic stenosis
• Congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries
• Dextrocardia
• D-transposition of the great arteries
• Double inlet left ventricle
• Double outlet right ventricle
• Ebstein's anomaly
• Fontan Operation
• Genetic syndromes with congenital heart disease
• Hypoplastic left heart syndrome
• Hypoplastic right heart syndrome
• Pregnancy in patients with congenital heart disease
• Pulmonary atresia
• Pulmonary stenosis
• Sinus of Valsalva aneurysm
• Tetralogy of Fallot
• Tricuspid atresia
• Truncus arteriosus
• Ventricular septal defect

As a part of the Arkansas Children's Heart Institute, the ACHD Program offers complete clinical services, including inpatient and outpatient care. This comprehensive treatment program provides experts who are specially trained in the unique healthcare needs of adults with CHD. 

To manage this complex group of patients—and provide the best possible outcomes—the Adult Congenital Heart Disease team is committed to providing care based on the latest guidelines. Our comprehensive treatment program provides experts specially trained in the unique healthcare needs of adults.

Whether you require inpatient or outpatient care, we offer a complete range of clinical services to help you understand what to expect today and in the years to come. If a heart procedure is necessary, our state-of-the-art facilities enable our surgeons to use less-invasive technologies even during more complex surgeries. Our approach helps patients feel better faster and leave the hospital sooner.

Possible Treatments

• Cardiac catheterization (hemodynamic & interventional)
• Cardiac transplantation
• Chest X-ray
• Computed tomography scan (CT Scan)
• Echocardiography (transthoracic, transesophageal, & fetal)
• Electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG)
• Electrophysiology studies
• Genetic testing & follow-up
• Ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring
• Laboratory testing
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
• Pacemaker & defibrillator interrogation
• Pregnancy follow-up
• Stress testing (cardiac & cardio-pulmonary)

Always raising the bar

We want every day to be better than the one before. Our researchers constantly monitor and study data from the people we care for and those insights fuel discoveries. Some of our ongoing research includes:

• Outcomes of pregnancy in women with congenital heart disease
• Hospital resource utilization in adults with single ventricle congenital heart disease— pediatric versus adult hospitals
• Impact of obesity on the interpretation of right ventricular volume in adults with tetralogy of Fallot
• Long-term outcomes of congenital heart surgery in patients with Down syndrome

To learn more about congenital heart disease, visit the following links.

• American Heart Association
• Adult Congenital Heart Association
• The Canadian Adult Congenital Network
• The International Society for Adult Congenital Heart Disease