Adult congenital heart disease

The heterogeneity of adult congenital heart disease requires a thorough understanding of cardiac anatomy as well as common surgical and interventional techniques. Echocardiographic studies should be comprehensive and performed in a structured fashion, to avoid missing important anatomical or functional information. The majority of clinical questions can be answered based on the results of echocardiographic studies, but the echocardiographer should be aware of the inherent limitations of the technique and additional image modalities such as cardiac magnetic resonance and computed tomography should be used when appropriate. Assessment of pulmonary artery pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance may be essential and still requires cardiac catheterization.