0000000000608519
AUTHOR
Margarita Brida
Overview of health care provision for adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) in Central and South-eastern European countries: current status, provision gaps and investments needed
Abstract Background Most of North and Western European countries recognized long ago the importance of specialized ACHD programmes and have today well-established Centre of excellence for management of ACHD patients. In contrast, even though Central and South-eastern (CESE) European region geographically comprise almost half of the European continent, little is known about ACHD status in vast majority of its countries. Purpose We aim to provide for the first time contemporary comprehensive overview of ACHD situation in CESE Europe. Methods We obtained data regarding current national ACHD status from 19 CESE European countries. Over the country national cardiac society, the ESC Working Group…
European Society of Cardiology Working Group on Adult Congenital Heart Disease and Study Group for Adult Congenital Heart Care in Central and South Eastern European Countries consensus paper: current status, provision gaps and investment required
Aims To examine the current status of care and needs of adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) services in the Central and South Eastern European (CESEE) region. Methods and results We obtained data regarding the national ACHD status for 19 CESEE countries from their ACHD representative based on an extensive survey for 2017 and/or 2018. Thirteen countries reported at least one tertiary ACHD centre with a median year of centre establishment in 2007 (interquartile range 2002-2013). ACHD centres reported a median of 2114 patients under active follow-up with an annual cardiac catheter and surgical intervention volume of 49 and 40, respectively. The majority (90%) of catheter or surgical interven…