Lectures from Snowmass: Congenital Heart Disease Mistakes

This presentation was originally made during a live ACC program entitled "Cardiovascular Conference at Snowmass: Contemporary Approaches to Clinical Care," which took place on January 16-20, 2016. In this lecture, Dr. Carole Warnes addresses mistakes in the diagnosis and management of contemporary congenital heart disease. One and one-half million adults are living with congenital heart disease in the United States, due to the success of cardiac surgery. These adults need follow up care in a special center; otherwise, significant mistakes in their care could be made.

Some of the mistakes commonly seen are:

  1. Cyanotic heart disease.
  2. Failure to diagnose congenital heart disease in the adult, particularly as the physical exam is not always consistent with the echocardiogram.
  3. Limited knowledge of the sequelae in a patient that has had surgery for congenital heart disease.
  4. Late referral and mistakes in management.

Dr. Warnes uses patient cases to demonstrate these common errors.


Keywords: Heart Defects, Congenital, Cardiac Surgical Procedures, Cyanosis, Echocardiography, Lecture


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