Quality of life in adults living with congenital heart disease: beyond morbidity and mortality

“Living well is as important to most people as living longer” is the opening statement of Apers et al.’s recently published paper in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology addressing quality of life (QOL) amongst adults living with congenital heart disease (CHD) (1). As survival with CHD continues well into adulthood, owing to the dramatic success story of pediatric cardiovascular diagnostics and cardiothoracic surgery, the population of adults with CHD is growing, forming more than 60% of the total CHD population (2), and now exceeding the number of newborns with CHD annually (3). Almost all adults with CHD require periodic evaluation by a congenital cardiologist throughout their lifetime, creating an ever-increasing pressure on healthcare services (4,5).