Skip Navigation



European Heart Journal Advance Access published online on April 26, 2006
European Heart Journal, doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehi858
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (Rapid PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
27/11/1324    most recent
ehi858v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Moons, P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Moons, P.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

European Heart Journal © The European Society of Cardiology 2006; all rights reserved
Received November 23, 2004
Revised March 10, 2006
Accepted March 17, 2006

Clinical research

Delivery of care for adult patients with congenital heart disease in Europe: results from the Euro Heart Survey

Philip Moons 1 *, Peter Engelfriet 2, Harald Kaemmerer 3, Folkert J. Meijboom 4, Erwin Oechslin 5, Barbara J.M. Mulder 2, and On behalf of the Expert Committee of Euro Heart Survey on Adult Congenital Heart Disease

1 Centre for Health Services and Nursing Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Kapucijnenvoer 35/4, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium; Division of Congenital Cardiology, University Hospitals of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
2 Department of Cardiology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
3 Klinik fur Kinderkardiologie und angeborene Herzfehler, Deutsches Herzzentrum Munchen, Germany
4 Department of Cardiology, Thoraxcenter Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
5 Division of Cardiology, University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Philip Moons, E-mail: philip.moons{at}med.kuleuven.be


  Abstract

Aims The increasing number of adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) has prompted the development of recommendations for the management of these patients and for the organization of their healthcare. The aim of this report is to describe the delivery of care in Europe for adults with congenital cardiac anomalies.

Methods and results As part of the Euro Heart Survey on Adult Congenital Heart Disease, we obtained data from 71 voluntarily participating centres that detailed their care practices for these patients. Forty-eight of these centres were specialist centres and 23 were non-specialist centres. We found that only 19% of the specialist centres complied with defined standards for optimal care structure. The criteria that appeared to be most difficult for all centres to achieve were performing 50 congenital heart operations or more per year and involving nurse specialists in the care of these patients.

Conclusion This survey indicated that the provision of care in Europe for adults with congenital heart defects is suboptimal. To fully realize the benefits of cardiac surgery performed in infants and children, continuous effort must be applied by healthcare professionals in order to implement the recommendations on the organization of care for these patients.

Keywords: Congenital heart disease; Health care survey; Health personnel; Provision of care; Adult.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 CirculationHome page
C. L. Verheugt, C. S.P.M. Uiterwaal, E. T. van der Velde, F. J. Meijboom, P. G. Pieper, H. W. Vliegen, A. P.J. van Dijk, B. J. Bouma, D. E. Grobbee, and B. J.M. Mulder
Gender and Outcome in Adult Congenital Heart Disease
Circulation, July 1, 2008; 118(1): 26 - 32.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Eur Heart JHome page
N. M.S. de Groot and M. J. Schalij
Euro Heart Survey on adult congenital heart disease: concern for the complexity of care
Eur. Heart J., June 1, 2006; 27(11): 1268 - 1269.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.