Prevalence of Cardiac Dysfunction Among Adult Patients With Congenital Heart Disease: A Single-Center Investigation

Background: In spite of achievements in the field of pediatric cardiology and surgical techniques, which have increased the chance of children with congenital heart diseases to reach adulthood, the inherent problems with the disease create a large number of complications for them in later life, including cardiac dysfunction. It is important to know the prevalence of cardiac dysfunction and its influential factor among adults with congenital heart diseases (CHDs); hence, the present study aimed to answer this question. Methods: We measured the prevalence of cardiac dysfunction based on echocardiographic guidelines among ACHDS referred to Rajaie Cardiovascular, Medical, and Research Center between December 2017 and June 2018. Data analysis was performed using the χ2 test and logistic regression through the SPSS software. Results: Left and right ventricular dysfunction was 60.6% and 77.7%, respectively. Moreover, 58.7% of the patients were affected by both left and right ventricular dysfunction, while 20.9% had only one of the left or right ventricular dysfunction. Eighty-eight (20.4%) patients did not have dysfunction at the time of the study. The variables of moderately complex congenital heart disease, cyanosis, moderate pulmonary hypertension, the Eisenmenger syndrome, and the type of intervention were the predictors of left ventricular dysfunction. Conclusions: The prevalence of cardiac dysfunction among our adult patients with CHDs was very high. Given that cardiac dysfunction starts at a young age in this group of patients in comparison with the general population, the quality of life of the former group is more seriously threatened. Our results identified factors that increased the likelihood of developing cardiac dysfunction. These factors should be considered when approaching patients with cardiac dysfunction.