Medical complications associated with congenital heart disease

There are a number of medical complications associated with congenital heart disease. These include skeletal deformities, joint and bone problems, renal (kidney) dysfunction, blood cell disorders and bleeding tendencies, gallstones and acne.

The risk of developing these complications depends on the type and severity of congenital heart abnormality present at birth. Where cyanosis (a chronic shortage of oxygen in the blood) is present, these complications are much more likely to develop.

Most babies, children and adults with congenital heart disease have a life-long risk of infective endocarditis: an infection usually affecting a heart valve or a blood vessel.  While infective endocarditis is rare in the general population, people with a heart defect are at a greater risk of developing it, and need to take preventive measures such as taking antibiotics prior to dental treatment, childbirth, body piercing, and surgery. Infective endocarditis accounts for around 4% of admissions to a specialised unit for grown-up congenital heart disease patients in the UK (Li W and Somerville J (1998) Infective endocarditis in the grown-up congenital heart (GUCH) population. European Heart Journal;19:166-73).

Quality of life

The Short-form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire measures health related quality of life in eight areas of life, including physical, mental and social functioning. Patients registered at the Adult Congenital Heart Disease clinic in Birmingham were surveyed using the SF-36 to measure quality of life in adults with congenital heart disease.

Compared to adults of a similar age in the general population, adults with simple congenital heart disease had significantly lower SF-36 scores for only two dimensions: physical functioning and overall general health perception.

Patients with cyanosis had lower SF-36 scores than patients without cyanosis. The presence of cyanosis was associated with a more severe and more generalised reduction in quality of life. Patients with cyanosis reported significantly lower levels of physical, social and mental functioning compared to the general population and to patients without cyanosis.