A 35-year-old member asked:
can you tell me about congenital heart defects?
1 doctor answer • 2 doctors weighed in

Dr. Frederick Tibayan answered
Thoracic Surgery 23 years experience
Be more specific: Congenital heart defects are come in all types. Some common, some rare. Also, the prognosis and treatments can be very different. Please ask a more specific question, or see a doctor, .
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A 22-year-old member asked:
My fiance has congenital heart defects and now I wonder what I am getting into. Will this affect his ability to work?
2 doctor answers • 12 doctors weighed in

Dr. Cindy Juster answered
Pediatrics 36 years experience
It depends!: It depends on which congenital heart defects he has, what surgeries have been done to repair them, and what his current cardiac status is now. I recommend having your fiance schedule an appointment with his cardiologist, so that you can ask his cardiologist these questions.
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A 51-year-old member asked:
What do I need to tell my fiance about my future health? I have congenital heart defects.
2 doctor answers • 3 doctors weighed in

Dr. Anatoly Belilovsky answered
Pediatrics 35 years experience
Depends:: Your prognosis depends on the type of heart defect you have and the degree to which it was corrected. Since you are likely to have a scar on your chest if you had surgical repair, i suggest telling sooner rather than later.
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A 48-year-old member asked:
Are congenital heart defects usually deadly?
2 doctor answers • 6 doctors weighed in

Dr. Nikolaos Zacharias answered
Maternal-Fetal Medicine 26 years experience
Frequently not usual: Some congenital cardiac defects can be lethal - but most are not.
5736 views
A 37-year-old member asked:
Please tell me, could congenital heart defects (one or more) be diagnosed later on in life?
1 doctor answer • 2 doctors weighed in

Dr. Steven Neish answered
Pediatric Cardiology 38 years experience
Variable : Some congenital heart defects almost always present in the first few hours of life. Others, have a variable presentation and may present at any age. The most common standard congenital heart disease to present in adulthood is atrial septal defect. Bicuspid aortic valve also often presents in adulthood, and although it is a congenital anomaly, is not always included in the classification.
4357 views
A 31-year-old member asked:
Please tell me, could congenital heart defects be diagnosed later on in life?
1 doctor answer • 4 doctors weighed in

Dr. Nestor Del rosario answered
Addiction Medicine 34 years experience
Yes: The severe cases are diagnosed in kids. I have patients whose foramen ovale defects are diagnosed only now in their fifties, and only after an event that forces us to search deep into the problem. They were not diagnosed with usual echo and stress tests and thallium. So the answer is yes.
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Last updated Jun 15, 2014
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