Fragility and cognitive profile of adult and elderly subjects with congenital heart disease

Thanks to advances in diagnosis and treatment, life expectancy for patients with congenital heart disease has increased in recent years. However, these patients still have a high morbidity and mortality rate. In this study, researchers described the frailty and cognitive profile of middle-aged and older adults with congenital heart disease. In all, they included 814 patients aged at least 40, living in 11 different countries. Of all patients, 41.9% were considered pre-fragile and 5.8% frail, based on the results of the Fried method. Frailty was associated with advanced age, female gender and comorbidities. Surprisingly, high complexity of cardiac disease seemed to protect against frailty.