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Congenital Heart Diseases: Epidemiology, Treatment and Lifelong Support
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Congenital Heart Diseases: Epidemiology, Treatment and Lifelong Support

A special issue of Journal of Clinical Medicine (ISSN 2077-0383). This special issue belongs to the section "Cardiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 June 2026 | Viewed by 1548

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Sebastian Freilinger

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Department of Sport and Health Sciences, Technical University of Munich, 80638 Munich, Germany
2. Department of Congenital Heart Disease and Paediatric Cardiology, German Heart Center Munich, Technical University Munich, 80636 Munich, Germany
Interests: epidemiology; prevention; sports science; public health; health service research; risk prediction
Prof. Dr. Renate Oberhoffer-Fritz

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Sport and Health Sciences, Technical University of Munich, 80638 Munich, Germany
Interests: fetal cardiology; prevention; pediatrics; modifiable risk factors
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Dr. Harald Kaemmerer

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
International Center for Adults with Congenital Heart Disease, Department of Congenital Heart Disease and Paediatric Cardiology, German Heart Center Munich, Technical University Munich, 80636 Munich, Germany
Interests: adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD); pulmonary hypertension; heart failure; aortopathy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Oliver Dewald

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
University of Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany
Interests: heart valve repair; ACHD surgery; immunomodulation; myocardial adaptation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Few areas of modern medicine have witnessed as much progress as the field of congenital heart disease (CHD), the most common isolated organ abnormality worldwide. Thanks to advances in diagnostics, surgery, interventional cardiology, and medical therapy, up to 97% of children with CHD in industrialized countries now reach adulthood and enjoy an increasingly high quality of life.

Despite these achievements, complete correction of CHD is rarely possible. As a result, most adults with CHD live with residual lesions, long-term complications, and acquired cardiac or non-cardiac comorbidities, all of which significantly influence morbidity and mortality. Compared with the well-established evidence base for acquired heart disease, research in the CHD population still shows considerable gaps.

This Special Issue aims to help close some of these gaps and to provide a comprehensive overview of congenital heart disease, spanning epidemiology, risk factors, clinical management, surgical and interventional treatment, and long-term care. We particularly welcome contributions that not only address medical and technological advances but also explore psychosocial dimensions, lifestyle factors, and health policy perspectives. Both original research and state-of-the-art reviews are invited, with the goal of fostering interdisciplinary exchange and advancing the holistic care of patients with CHD.

Dr. Sebastian Freilinger
Prof. Dr. Renate Oberhoffer-Fritz
Prof. Dr. Dr. Harald Kaemmerer
Prof. Dr. Oliver Dewald
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Clinical Medicine is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • congenital heart disease (CHD)
  • adults with CHD
  • epidemiology
  • comorbidities
  • intervention
  • surgical treatment
  • psychological aspects
  • quality of life (QoL)
  • risk factors
  • rehabilitation
  • health promotion
  • prevention
  • health literacy
  • physical activity
  • lifelong support

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 469 KB  
Article
Incidence of Malignancy in Children After Cardiac Catheterization Within the First 8 Years of Life Between 1999 and 2013—A Single-Center Experience
by Heiko Stern, Angela Kretschmer, Alfred Hager, Peter Ewert and Christian Meierhofer
J. Clin. Med. 2026, 15(9), 3258; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm15093258 - 24 Apr 2026
Viewed by 66
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Children with congenital heart disease are exposed to ionizing radiation, which may induce cancer. This study aimed to reassess cancer risk after cardiac catheterization (CC) between 1999 and 2013, with follow-up until 15 years of age, cancer diagnosis, or death. Methods: [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Children with congenital heart disease are exposed to ionizing radiation, which may induce cancer. This study aimed to reassess cancer risk after cardiac catheterization (CC) between 1999 and 2013, with follow-up until 15 years of age, cancer diagnosis, or death. Methods: We studied 2762 children who underwent at least one CC before eight years of age between 1999 and 2013. Cancer diagnoses were obtained from the German Childhood Cancer Registry. For patients with tumors and 60 randomly selected control patients, cumulative effective radiation doses (Deff) were calculated. Results: During 344,80 person-years of follow-up, ten patients developed cancer, whereas 5.3 cases were expected (standardized incidence ratio [SIR] 1.88; 95% CI 0.90–3.46; p = 0.0449). Eight tumors occurred in patients who underwent CC during the first year of life, compared with 3.5 expected (SIR 2.26; 95% CI 0.98–4.46; p = 0.0282). Patients with cancer had a median of 2.0 (1–11) CCs and a median D_eff of 14.6 mSv (2.4–94.3) compared with 1.0 (1–10) CCs and 9.7 mSv (0.7–171.5) in controls. Neither parameter differed significantly. No specific malignancy was predominant. Conclusion: Cardiac catheterization early in life remains associated with an increased cancer risk; however, compared with our previously published 1980–1998 cohort, a reduction in risk was observed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Congenital Heart Diseases: Epidemiology, Treatment and Lifelong Support)
15 pages, 938 KB  
Article
The Impact of Acute COVID-19 Infection and Long COVID in Patients with Congenital Heart Disease: A Longitudinal Study by the German National Register for Congenital Heart Disease
by Cornelia Tremblay, Ulrike M. M. Bauer, Jens Beudt, Stefan Orwat, Gerhard-Paul Diller, Constanze Pfitzer and Paul C. Helm
J. Clin. Med. 2026, 15(5), 1986; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm15051986 - 5 Mar 2026
Viewed by 385
Abstract
Background: Patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) were considered to belong to a vulnerable group at risk for COVID-19 infection. Our aim was to investigate the severity of acute COVID-19 infection in this patient group as well as the occurrence of sequelae. Methods: [...] Read more.
Background: Patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) were considered to belong to a vulnerable group at risk for COVID-19 infection. Our aim was to investigate the severity of acute COVID-19 infection in this patient group as well as the occurrence of sequelae. Methods: We performed telephone interviews with all accessible COVID positive CHD patients from our online COVID-19 patient survey. Baseline information was extracted from our nationwide data bank, with further details from hospital discharge letters. Results: Ninety-nine patients (or parents) were interviewed (male 50.5%): 28 children, 32 young adults (up to 29 years), and 39 adults (30 years and above). Twenty patients had simple, 38 moderate, and 41 complex CHD (10.1% were cyanotic). In twelve patients the CHD was native, ten underwent univentricular palliation, and the rest had corrective cardiac treatment. Thirty patients had additional non-cardiac risk factors. The acute course of COVID-19 was mild in 50, moderate in 38, and severe in three patients, requiring hospitalization. No deaths occurred. Long COVID symptoms (persisting ≥ 12 weeks) were reported by 31 patients. Conclusions: Despite underlying CHD, the severity of the acute course of COVID-19 in our cohort is comparable to that in the general population. Even patients with cyanotic CHD, complex CHD after univentricular palliation, or those with pulmonary hypertension, usually had a mild to moderate course, so that hospitalization was rarely necessary. The percentage of CHD patients reporting Long COVID symptoms (31%) was higher than in the general population. The long-term impact of COVID-19 and Long COVID in CHD patients is unknown and remains to be investigated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Congenital Heart Diseases: Epidemiology, Treatment and Lifelong Support)
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10 pages, 451 KB  
Article
Sleep Stage Monitoring in Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) Using a Digital Health Application Programming Interface (API)
by Charlotte Schöneburg, Isabel Uphoff, Viktoria Ludwig, Renate Oberhoffer-Fritz, Peter Ewert and Jan Müller
J. Clin. Med. 2025, 14(22), 8097; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm14228097 - 15 Nov 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 716
Abstract
Background: Adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) are living longer but face increasing comorbidities. Sleep is a key health determinant, yet objective data in CHD remain limited. This study compared sleep characteristics of adults with CHD and controls using wearable technology and [...] Read more.
Background: Adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) are living longer but face increasing comorbidities. Sleep is a key health determinant, yet objective data in CHD remain limited. This study compared sleep characteristics of adults with CHD and controls using wearable technology and a Health Application Programming Interface (API). Methods: A total of 175 CHD patients (33.1 ± 10.3 years, 49.2% women) and 52 controls (34.4 ± 12.4 years, 40.4% women) completed seven continuous days of wrist-worn Garmin Vivosmart® 5 during routine follow-up at the TUM Klinikum Deutsches Herzzentrum. Sleep duration, phases, Sleep Scores, and weekday-weekend differences were analyzed, and multivariate models examined clinical and demographic predictors. Results: Total sleep duration and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep did not differ between groups. CHD patients had more deep sleep (83 ± 19 vs. 75 ± 16 min, p = 0.004) but lower Sleep Scores (74 ± 9 vs. 77 ± 9, p = 0.041). Within CHDs, deep sleep was higher on weekends than on weekdays (p = 0.033). Multivariate analyses showed no overall group effect, but age (p = 0.016), sex (p = 0.013), and body mass index (BMI; p < 0.001) significantly predicted sleep outcomes. Regression analyses in CHDs revealed female sex associated with longer REM sleep (p < 0.001), while higher BMI consistently predicted poorer outcomes. Disease severity was linked to lower Sleep Scores. Conclusions: Sleep in CHDs is broadly comparable to controls, but BMI, sex, and disease severity significantly shape outcomes. The additional variability between weekends and weekdays and a higher risk of sleep-disordered breathing, according to the literature, underscores that sleep is an underestimated target for prevention and clinical care in CHD. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Congenital Heart Diseases: Epidemiology, Treatment and Lifelong Support)
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