Growing to Adulthood - Advancing care for single ventricle heart defects - Chop - 10 or 12

>> THANKS TO ADVANCES MADE IN THE '80S AND '90S, JASON IS ONE OF THE STEADILY GROWING NUMBER OF PATIENTS WITH COMPLEX CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE WHO WILL NEED TO TRANSITION FROM PEDIATRIC TO ADULT CARE PROVIDERS. THESE PATIENTS ARE LITERALLY PIONEERS, SOME OF THE FIRST TO REACH ADULTHOOD LIVING WITH SINGLE VENTRICLE DEFECTS. >> MORE HUMAN BEINGS WITH CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE THAT ARE OVER THE AGE OF 18 THAN THOSE THAT ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 18. AND THAT'S NOT BECAUSE THERE ARE LESS BABIES BEING BORN WITH HEART DISEASE. IT'S SIMPLY THAT BY VIRTUE OF OUR SUCCESS, WE'VE CREATED A HUGE AND GROWING POPULATION OF PATIENTS, ADULTS, WHO ARE SURVIVORS OF THE RIGORS OF SURGERY FOR CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE. >> ADULT CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE HAS NOW BECOME A SPECIALTY IN AND OF ITSELF. >> YOUR ENDOCRINOLOGIST WHO'S AN ADULT DOCTOR CAN TAKE CARE OF DIABETES JUST AS WELL AS A PEDIATRIC ENDOCRINOLOGIST. YOUR ADULT PULMONOLOGIST CAN TAKE CARE OF ASTHMA AS WELL AS A PEDIATRIC PULMONOLOGIST. BUT ADULT CARDIOLOGISTS ARE NOT TRAINED AT ALL IN CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE, AND IT'S A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT WORLD TO THEM. >> WE HAVE REALLY PARTNERED WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA IN BUILDING A PROGRAM THAT ALLOWS PATIENTS WITH ADULT CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE TO EITHER BE MANAGED HERE AT CHOP, DEPENDING ON THEIR AGE AND THEIR HEART LESION AND WHETHER THEY HAVE OTHER PROBLEMS OUTSIDE OF THEIR HEART, OR TO BE MANAGED AT THE ADULT HOSPITAL. >> OUR SPECIALTY IS LOOKING AT PEOPLE WHO ARE BORN WITH HEART DEFECTS, WHO ARE BORN WITH CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE AND WHO'VE BEEN PUT BACK TOGETHER, WHO HAVE THINGS LIKE CONDUITS AND RECONNECTIONS OF THE HEART TO BLOOD VESSELS. AND CERTAINLY WE HAVE PATIENTS WHO ARE STRUGGLING AND WHOSE REPAIRS HAVE HAD UNINTENDED SEQUELAE. AND WHEN THEY REACH THEIR SECOND, THIRD, FOURTH, EVEN FIFTH DECADE AT THIS POINT, THEY'RE RUNNING INTO PROBLEMS WHERE THE HEART ISN'T PUMPING AS STRONG AS IT SHOULD, AND THEY NEED THE HELP OF OUR TEAM. >> THESE CHILDREN AS THEY GROW OLDER, THEY ARE LIKELY TO REQUIRE OTHER SPECIALISTS SUCH AS A LIVER SPECIALIST, AND A BONE SPECIALIST, AN ENDOCRINOLOGIST. >> IT'S BEST FOR ALL THOSE SPECIALISTS IDEALLY TO BE IN ONE LOCATION AND THAT TYPE OF COORDINATED CARE IS REALLY ONLY AVAILABLE IN A FEW LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY. >> THAT'S WHERE THE FIELD OF ADULT CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE COMES INTO PLAY AND IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE SEAMLESS CONTINUUM OF CARE THAT WE OFFER -- FROM OUR FETAL HEART PROGRAM TO THE NEUROCARDIAC CARE PROGRAM TO OUR SINGLE VENTRICLE SURVIVORSHIP PROGRAM AND ONTO ADULT CARE.