The Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD) Program at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital has successfully attained accreditation as a Comprehensive Care Center from the Adult Congenital Heart Association (ACHA). ACHA accreditation is awarded to centers that meet rigorous standards in delivering comprehensive care for adult congenital heart disease patients. “This achievement reflects our dedication to excellence in patient care, innovative treatment approaches and continuous improvement in ACHD services,” says Ugo Nwankwo, MD, Cardiologist and Medical Director of the ACHD program.
Thanks to advances in treatments, people born with heart defects that required pediatric treatment are increasingly living into adulthood yet still need ongoing medical management. The expert care team at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon follows them on that journey - in fact, its ACHD clinic is one of only two centers in the state, and the only program in the St. Louis region, that is staffed by physicians board-certified in both pediatric cardiology and adult congenital heart disease.
There may be three million people living with congenital heart defects in the U.S., according to the ACHA, two million of them adults. Fewer than 10 percent of them are receiving ongoing care.
Adults born with heart defects present issues that are not covered in training for adult cardiology. Surgically repaired hearts may exacerbate complications of typical adult diseases.
"This is a young field because of the history of heart disease," says Dr. Nwankwo. "We did not have many surgical interventions that could prolong the lives of our patients until the 1950s and 1960s. Up until the early 2000's many patients with more complex heart diseases were not being offered surgical management because there was still a high level of morbidity and mortality. Due to advances in therapies, children who have severe heart disease are becoming adults and living longer. We have patients with congenital heart defects who live nearly full - if not full - lives."
Learn more about the ACHD program.
Meet Dr. Nwankwo, a board certified in pediatrics, internal medicine, pediatric cardiology, and adult congenital heart disease. He is a SLUCare congenital interventional cardiologist and assistant professor of pediatrics at Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
