Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD)

The only accredited ACHD program in South Florida.

Explore Our ACHD Services

Call us for more information or to schedule an appointment

Approximately 1.5 million adults live with adult congenital heart disease (ACHD), and it can be hard for these individuals to find the specialized treatment they need.

Advances in medicine make it possible for most children born with heart defects to survive and thrive into adulthood. To continue thriving as adults, people living with ACHD need specialized, continuous care.

The Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program at Memorial Cardiac and Vascular Institute’s is the only program in South Florida accredited by the Adult Congenital Heart Association (ACHA) as a ACHA ACHD Accredited Comprehensive Care Center for adult congenital heart disease. Our specially trained team delivers complete, personalized ACHD care, and we partner with you and your family for the best possible quality of life.

Our ACHD cardiologists have in-depth understanding of how the experiences of adulthood can affect those with congenital heart condition. We see adults with congenital heart disease who:

had not been diagnosed previously,
had a valve replaced or repaired,
had a hole in their heart closed,
been treated for any number of conditions that affected their heart or blood vessels.

From congenital heart disease while pregnant to procedures or surgeries, we monitor any changes in your heart and help you stay healthy for a long time to come.

Heather, who has adult congenital heart disease and her daughter, Lily

Memorial Helps Adult Congenital Heart Disease Patient Heather During High-Risk Pregnancies

Multiple teams of Memorial specialists care for Heather who has adult congenital heart disease — teams that have guided her through two high-risk pregnancies.

Read Heather's Story

Why Do Adults With Congenital Heart Defects Need Specialized Care?

When a child has a heart defect repaired in childhood, the heart grows, adapts and ages throughout adulthood. Sometimes serious conditions can develop later in life, such as:

Research published by the American Heart Association shows that adults who receive regular follow-up care by providers specially trained in ACHD live longer lives. Our Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program provides that specialized care.

Call us for more information or to schedule an appointment

954-265-2243

Specialized Care for Adult Congenital Heart Disease: Why Choose Memorial Healthcare System?

Accredited, award-winning care

First ACHD program in Florida and the only one in South Florida accredited by the Adult Congenital Heart Association. Accreditation means we met rigorous criteria for success in delivering thorough, lifetime care for adults with all types of congenital heart disease. We are also an OptumHealth Center of Excellence for ACHD.

We’re also on the cutting edge of using new devices to treat congenital conditions, like the newer transcatheter valves that can reduce the number of surgeries an adult with a congenital condition may need.

ACHD experts

Our providers are nationally known, board-certified experts in pediatric cardiology and adult congenital heart disease. They collaborate with electrophysiologists, interventional cardiologists, heart transplant surgeons, heart imaging specialists and others to deliver individualized care. Meet our ACHD team.

Care for all ages

Congenital cardiologists work with both children and adults. We treat children with congenital heart disease at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. As young patients become teenagers, we begin to transition them to the adult program.

Ultimately, our patients can keep their heart care in one place, over their entire lifetime.

Extra support for teens transitioning to ACHD care

Our team has a robust, thoughtful system in place to transition teens seamlessly from pediatric to adult heart care.

Learn about our approach for transitioning to ACHD care.

Specialized care for pregnant women with ACHD

We see many women with congenital heart disease who are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant. Beyond counseling and routine services, we offer complete support for cardiac-related high-risk pregnancies. We also provide genetic testing for inherited congenital heart conditions.

Comprehensive treatments and services

Whether you need a routine procedure, heart surgery, or a heart transplant, we offer a complete range of ACHD treatments and services. We are also the only specialists in South Florida performing the transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement (TPVR) procedure.

Multilingual care

We have bi-lingual team members available for patients who speak Spanish, and can provide interpretation phone services to assist patients who speak other foreign languages. *Personal que habla Español disponible.

ACHD Program at Memorial

Physicians with Memorial’s Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program describe the multidisciplinary and comprehensive care they provide. The first program in Florida accredited by the Adult Congenital Heart Association, it is one of the few programs in the country where a pediatric hospital and an adult hospital are physically conjoined to provide care and expertise to meet the complex needs of congenital patients regardless of their age.

Elinor, who has adult congenital heart disease, also shares the advantages and benefits she found in the program.

Marc’s Harmony™ Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve (TPV) Replacement Story

When Marc, who has adult congenital heart disease, needed a new heart valve the leaders of the Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program at Memorial Cardiac and Vascular Institute and Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital collaborated to perform the first HarmonyTM valve replacement in South Florida.

Watch to learn about the procedure and how it helped Marc avoid open-heart surgery.