Rapid developments in congenital heart disease diagnosis and treatment have allowed children with congenital heart disease to survive to adulthood. In particular, advances in pediatric cardiology during the 2000s have shifted the majority of congenital heart disease-related mortalities to adulthood. Consequently, there are now hundreds of thousands of adults with congenital heart defects worldwide. In the near future, cardiologists are expected to encounter a steady increase in patients at grown-up congenital heart centers.
This atlas includes representations of common congenital heart defects and complete sets of surgical or transcatheter interventions with the most recent acquisitions. The atlas also provides a selection of diagrams (more than 200 diagrammatic heart figures) from the cardiac catheterization laboratory of a pediatric or grown-up cardiology unit that can be easily modified by various software programs. With the addition of hemodynamic data acquired during cardiac catheterization, the diagrams become accurate anatomical and physiological reports. Simple line or symbol-based drawings, rather than artistic illustrations, have been used in figures to facilitate sharing and customization.
In conclusion, I believe that this atlas is a necessary reference with great utility for cardiologists, heart surgeons, radiologists, clinical staff, medical students, nursing personnel, patients and their families.
