Current research status on the psychological situation of adults with congenital heart disease

Congenital heart diseases (CHDs) are among the most common types of birth defects. Each year 1.35–1.5 million children are born with CHD worldwide. Due to the advances in congenital cardiology and cardiac surgery, survival rates of infants born with CHD have improved substantially (1). More than 90% of all children born with CHD reach adulthood in the industrial world, and the number of adults with CHD (ACHD) meanwhile exceeds the number of children with CHD in the long run. Unfortunately, most of the affected patients are not cured and are chronically ill due to residua, sequelae, complications from the underlying heart disease. Moreover, recent studies uncovered that many of them suffer from cardiac and non-cardiac comorbidities, and are at increased risk of psychological distress, neurocognitive deficits, and social challenges (2-4). Therefore, the need for an ongoing, lifelong holistic care for these patients is undisputed (5,6)