Heart and Vascular Center
Cardiovascular Medicine Clinic
The Cardiovascular Medicine Clinic encompasses the Adult Congenital Heart Disease Clinic, Cardiothoracic Surgery Clinic and the Heart Failure Clinic.
Adult Congenital Heart Disease Clinic
About one in 100 babies is born with a heart defect (congenital heart disease or CHD), and many of them have surgery during infancy or childhood. Over the years, advances in pediatric heart surgery have resulted in the successful treatment of many of these children, and 90 percent now survive into adulthood. As a result, about 1 million adults born with a heart condition are alive today in the United States, and about 16,000 of them live in Wisconsin.
About 10 percent to 20 percent of adults with CHD aren’t aware they were born with a heart defect until it’s discovered in adulthood.
To meet the unique needs of adults with CHD, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, in conjunction with Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin, runs one of the few Adult Congenital Heart Disease Clinics in the country — and the only clinic of its kind in Wisconsin. The clinic, based at Children’s Hospital, provides ongoing diagnosis and treatment for adults with CHD.
Two of the less than 40 physicians in the country with training and experience in adult congenital heart disease see patients in the clinic. They are on staff at Children’s Hospital and at Froedtert Hospital, spanning both pediatric and adult cardiac specialties to provide the most complete care. Other clinic team members also have extensive experience in congenital heart disease. When needed, clinic physicians collaborate with adult cardiology specialists at Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin to treat specific heart problems.
The clinic offers testing and diagnosis, medication management, interventional (catheterization) procedures and surgery. The adult congenital heart disease team is also involved with many national collaborative research projects to continue improving the care of adults with congenital heart disease.
Many adults with CHD may feel well, but are often unaware that there can be long-term complications of their defect — until they are very sick. That’s why the vast majority of adults who had heart surgery as a child need regular evaluations throughout life.
Over time, many things can happen to hearts that were “fixed” during childhood; replaced parts can wear out and patched hearts can weaken. Even “simple” defects can be lead to long-term complications including cardiac complications (arrhythmias, heart block, residual holes, valve problems, high blood pressure, aneurysms and heart failure) and non-cardiac problems, such as learning disabilities, hearing and vision problems, lung problems, kidney problems, liver problems, and difficulty with pregnancy.
For adults with CHD, the consequence of not having regular follow-up care can be serious, such as the inability to exercise or even heart failure. Women who plan on becoming pregnant require careful evaluation, because their heart defects may complicate a pregnancy.
Cardiothoracic Surgery Clinic
Patients having heart surgery procedures such as heart bypass surgery, valve surgery, aortic surgery and heart transplant are seen in the Cardiothoracic Surgery Clinic for pre-surgical evaluation and follow-up care.
Heart Failure Clinic
The Heart Failure Clinic provides comprehensive outpatient care for patients experiencing heart failure. The clinic has all the resources that would normally be available in the hospital, but in an outpatient setting. Medications are given and adjusted as patients are observed in a relaxed environment. Heart failure has to be constantly and consistently managed. The more closely, more thoroughly and the better the disease is managed, the better the outcome. The clinic manages patient care on a weekly basis to for adjustment of therapy to achieve maximum goals. Heart failure management at Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin offers several advantages, including the use of current evidence-based therapy. One of the newest therapies, Aquapheresis™, allows the quick removal of fluid in heart failure patients for whom diuretics have stopped working.
Last Review Date: June 18, 2008 Online Editor(s): Richard Petre |