New to ACHD?
What is ACHD? It stands for "Adults with a Congenital Heart Defect"

A congenital heart defect is a heart problem that is present from birth. It can involve holes in the heart, narrow or absent blood vessels, malformed heart valves, or a reversal or absence of important heart structures. There are more than 30 different kinds of heart defects. Here is a list of the Top 10 Defects.

Congenital heart defects often involve a combination of problems which are classified according to how complex they are. For a summary of the three levels of complexity, click here. ACHA endorses the findings of the American College of Cardiology's 32nd Bethesda Conference Report. This report states that all adults born with complex congenital heart defects should be seen at specialized ACHD care centers. It also outlines the many unmet health care needs facing the ACHD community. For a PDF of this summary, click here.

If you are an ACHDer, you are not alone. It is estimated that there are more than one million of us living in the United States. Additional information is available on our Fact Sheet.