Adult Congenital Heart Disease

The Weill Cornell Center for Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD) is an ACHA Accredited Comprehensive Care Center. We provide individualized care for adult patients with congenital heart disease maximizing their cardiac health and social well-being.

What is ACHD?

Congenital heart disease is the most common form of birth defect, ‘congenital’ meaning the defect is present at birth. Congenital heart disease involves one or more problems with the heart’s structure, including the heart’s blood vessels, valves, and/or chambers, and can affect the way blood flows through the heart.

Thanks to modern-day advances in medical and surgical care, most children born with serious congenital heart defects survive long into adulthood.

In the U.S., there are now more adults with congenital heart disease than children. This is a testament to the medical success of cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery, but it also means that many adults with congenital heart disease require lifelong care to live a long and healthy life. Our team at Weill Cornell Medicine is dedicated to that personalized care for life.

Conditions We Treat

Here at Weill Cornell Medicine, we treat all conditions and diseases related to adult congenital heart disease, including:

• Anomalous pulmonary venous connections
• Anomalous coronary arteries
• Aortic valve disease
• Atrial septal defect (ASD)
• Coarctation of the aorta
• Complex congenital heart disease
• Coronary anomalies
• Dextrocardia
• Ebstein’s anomaly
• Fontan and Glenn circulation
• Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA)
• Patent foramen ovale (PFO)
• Pulmonary hypertension associated with congenital heart disease (Eisenmenger syndrome)
• Pulmonary regurgitation 
• Pulmonary stenosis
• Single ventricle
• Tetralogy of Fallot
• Transposition of the great arteries (TGA)
• Tricuspid atresia
• Truncus arteriosus
• Ventricular septal defect (VSD) 

Services We Offer

Here at Weill Cornell Medicine, we offer a variety of treatments and services, including:

• Consultative services, including outpatient and inpatient
• The most advanced imaging technology for diagnosis (3D-echocardiography, intracardiac echo, cardiac MRI, and cardiac CT) 
• Cutting-edge minimally invasive surgical options
• Comprehensive cardiac and medical management
• Therapeutic interventional cardiac catheterization and electrophysiology therapeutics
• Partnership with surgical specialists with expertise in congenital heart disease and perioperative management
• High-risk obstetrics and gynecology consultative services
• Transition clinic for young adults with congenital heart disease (in partnership with Cornell Pediatrics Cardiology)

Our cardiac interventional team offers expertise in performing minimally invasive and hybrid interventions in congenital heart disease including:

Percutaneous closure of: 

• Atrial septal defects
• AV malformations
• Patent ductus arteriosus
• Patent foramen ovale
• Vascular and coronary fistulas
• Ventricular septal defects

Angioplasty and stenting:

• Aortic coarctation
• Pulmonary arterial stenosis
• Pulmonary vein stenosis

Valvular therapies: 

• Transcatheter valve replacement & repair
• Balloon valvuloplasty

Complex congenital heart disease procedures: 

• Baffle Stenting (e.g. SVC baffle stenosis)
• Fontan interventions