New ACC/AHA Guideline Addresses Management of Congenital Heart Disease in Adults

December 24, 2025—The American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) have issued a new guideline for managing congenital heart disease in adults. The guideline was developed in collaboration with and endorsed by the Heart Rhythm Society, the International Society for Adult Congenital Heart Disease, and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions.

According to the ACC/AHA press release, the new guideline provides updated recommendations for monitoring, counseling, and treating adults with congenital heart disease. It includes evidence from research published between 2017-2024 and replaces the previous guidance issued in 2018.

Authored by Michelle Gurvitz, MD, et al, the new guideline was jointly published in JACC and Circulation. It is also available on the guideline hubs for JACC and the AHA.

As summarized by the ACC/AHA press release, additions to the new guideline include the role of clinicians with specialized expertise in guiding the care of adults with congenital heart disease, including recommendations about when this expertise is warranted and how specialists can partner with other clinicians to broaden access to care; updates regarding mental health, physical activity, pregnancy, and heart failure; and new recommendations about specific types of heart defects and treatment approaches.

The writing committee emphasized that patients with more complex heart defects often require close monitoring and may need additional procedures or medical devices during adulthood, such as valve replacements, ablations, or pacemakers to correct arrhythmias, or a heart transplant if heart functioning deteriorates severely. Further research is needed to inform the optimal timing for such interventions, as well as to inform geriatric care approaches as more patients reach older adulthood, noted the ACC/AHA press release, which is available online here.