Adult congenital heart disease
Find a heart specialistMany people who were born with a congenital heart defect are now surviving long into adulthood thanks to advances in medical and surgical care.
If you are one of those adults, you’ll need to receive care throughout your life, and you’ll be best served by our team of clinicians who can understand your complex and unique needs.
What is ACHD?
ACHD is the abbreviation for Adult Congenital Heart Disease, which refers to congenital heart defects that are managed into adulthood.
What is the Adult Congenital Heart Disease program?
The Adult Congenital Heart Disease program is part of the Chicagoland Children’s Health Alliance (CCHA) – a partnership between Advocate Children’s Hospital, University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital and Pediatrics at NorthShore University HealthSystem.
As the largest network of providers exclusively dedicated to the care of adults with congenital heart disease across Chicagoland, the partnership offers a full range of inpatient and outpatient clinical services. We treat people with adult congenital heart disease and connective tissue disorders.
From diagnosis through cardiac catheterization or surgical repair, we’re devoted to helping people maximize their physical, emotional and social health. The program cares for more than 3,000 adults annually, including transitioning childhood patients, new patients and those with the most complex of medical issues.
Why choose the Adult Congenital Heart Disease program?
At Advocate Children’s Hospital and Comer Children’s Hospital, our teams of specially-trained doctors and nurses are leaders in caring for children, teens and adults with congenital heart disease.
We provide world-class, comprehensive care by collaborating with a wide range of specialists to provide a full spectrum of outpatient, inpatient and intensive care.
Our services include:
- Advanced cardiovascular imaging
- Cardiac and noncardiac surgeries
- Cardiac anesthesia guidance
- Catheter-based interventions and diagnostics
- Electrophysiologic diagnostics and interventions
- Heart failure management and transplantation evaluation
- Vascular medicine therapies and diagnostics
- Pulmonary hypertension diagnostics and therapies
- Support for young people transitioning from pediatric to adult care
- Contraception and family planning
- Comprehensive women’s health
- Family and patient guidance and support
- Advocacy and financial guidance
We’re available 24/7 for consultations and care. If you need urgent care, we’ll arrange for hospital transfers or urgent office visits as needed. We also offer an outpatient clinic on weekdays to provide comprehensive follow-up and consultative care.
Transitioning from pediatric to life-long care
If you’ve had a chronic childhood illness, you can benefit from transitioning into an adult program designed specifically to meet your needs.
Our program for adults with congenital heart disease differs from the standard pediatric model including:
- Focus on physical aging: Adults with chronic illness often age at a faster rate physically and need to be monitored for possible health problems.
- Focus on adult health issues: Treatment of health problems such as diabetes, kidney disease, hypertension, liver disease, mental health issues, and heart failure and arrhythmias are different for adults than for children.
- Change in hospital visit dynamics: The dynamics of the visit evolve from a doctor-parent-patient triangle to a simple doctor-adult relationship. While your family members can still accompany you to appointments, the relationship will be patient-focused.
- Focus on problem-solving strategies: Chronic illness often interferes with a child’s transition from emotional coping strategies to problem-solving strategies. It’s also been associated with depression and anxiety. We’ll focus on the importance of integrating physical and mental health.
- Focus on education: Our providers will make sure you understand your heart issues, including basic anatomy and physiology, and any surgical repairs you may have had. We’ll also discuss the importance of follow up, adherence to medical care and healthy lifestyle decisions.
Conditions we treat
We provide the ongoing care that people of all ages need for congenital heart disease. We work with all types of congenital heart issues.
- Atrial septal defects (ASD)
- Atrioventricular canal defects (AVSD)
- Ebstein’s anomaly
- Ventricular septal defects (VSD)
- Patent foramen ovale (PFO)
- Transposition of the great arteries (dextro and levo) (TGA)
- Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF)
- Anomalous left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery
- Arrythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy (ARVD/C)
- Double outlet right ventricle (DORV)
- Heterotaxy
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
- Hypoplastic left/right heart syndromes
- Muscular dystrophies
- Partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection/Return
- Scimitar syndrome
- Single ventricle defects
- Total anomalous pulmonary venous return
- Tricuspid atresia
- Truncus arteriosus
- Aortic aneurysms and dissection
- Aortic valve stenosis/insufficiency
- Coarctation of the aorta
- Pulmonary valve stenosis/insufficiency
- Bicuspid aortic valve
- Loeys-Dietz syndrome
- Mitral stenosis
- Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA)
- Pulmonary atresia
- Arrhythmias
- Eisenmenger syndrome
- Marfan syndrome
- Heart failure
- Congenital heart defects
- Cyanosis
- Familial aortic aneurysm and dissection syndrome
- Kawasaki disease
- Pregnancy and heart disease
- Pulmonary hypertension
Our congenital heart services
We collaborate with many specialists across our Children’s Heart Institute and other organizations to diagnose, treat and monitor congenital heart disease from conception through adulthood.
Call 312-674-2100 to speak with a team member or to schedule an appointment.
We’re here to provide comprehensive diagnostic testing, offer complete therapeutic interventions, and coordinate care with specialty services within all our hospital systems and sites.
Outpatient services include:
- Echocardiography (transthoracic, transesophageal, stress)
- Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) & CT scan
- Stress testing
- Cardiovascular surgery consultation
- Coordination of care with maternal fetal medicine for pre-conception counseling and care during pregnancy
- Second opinions
- Video visits
- Cardiac and noncardiac surgery
- Contraception and family planning including preconception counseling, pregnancy, labor, and delivery management, and collaboration with high-risk obstetricians
- Education: resources and counseling to help people live their healthiest version of themselves
- Electrophysiology and pacemaker program
- Family and patient guidance and support
- Fetal echocardiograms
- Financial assistance
- Genetic testing
- Vascular medicine diagnostics and therapies
Our providers have clinics at:
Advocate Children’s Hospital – Oak Lawn Heart Center
4440 W. 95th Street
Oak Lawn, IL 60453
Advocate Christ Medical Center
– Advocate Heart Institute
4440 W. 95th Street
Outpatient Pavilion, 6th floor
Oak Lawn, IL 60453
Advocate Children’s Hospital – Park Ridge
1675 Dempster Street
3rd Floor
Park Ridge, IL 60068
Advocate Lutheran General Hospital
– Advocate Heart Institute
1775 Dempster Street
Parkside, Ground floor
Park Ridge, IL 60068
Advocate Children’s Heart Institute
9555 S. 52nd Avenue
Oak Lawn, IL 60453
Advocate Children’s Heart Institute
825 S. Milwaukee Avenue
Libertyville, IL 60048
Advocate Children’s Heart Institute
800 MacArthur Boulevard
Suite 3
Munster, IN 46321
University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital
5721 S. Maryland Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637
University of Chicago Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine – Hyde Park
5758 S. Maryland Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637
NorthShore University HealthSystem
2151 Waukegan Road
Suite 100
Bannockburn, IL 60015
Rush University Medical Center
1725 W. Harrison Street
Profession Building, Suite 1159
Chicago, IL 60612
DuPage Medical Group
100 Spalding Drive
Suite 400
Naperville, IL 60540
Our partnership with multiple top-ranked hospitals throughout Chicagoland means you’ll receive complete and comprehensive care based on your needs. These hospitals include Advocate Children’s Hospital, Advocate Christ Medical Center, University of Chicago Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine – Hyde Park and NorthShore University HealthSystem.
Our areas of inpatient expertise include:
- Heart failure management, ventricular assist devices (VAD) and transplantation evaluation
- Ongoing care in the cardiac intensive care units
- Post-operative care
- Cardiac catheterization interventions with balloons, percutaneous valves and innovative occlusion devices
- Pulmonary hypertension therapies and diagnostics
- Pregnancy, peripartum and postpartum management in conjunction with high risk obstetricians (maternal fetal medicine specialists)
- Arrhythmia treatment including electrophysiology procedures, cardiac device implantation (loop recorder, pacemaker, and ICD) and management
- Cardiac anesthesia guidance
Research & innovation
The Adult Congenital Heart Disease program has several ongoing studies that are enrolling participants. If you’re interested, please ask our team about potential projects that you or your family member may be eligible for.
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