Transition is the Change from Pediatric Medicine to Adult Medicine by the Example of Congenital Heart Disease. Epidemiology and Health Care

Owing to significant medical progress in the last decades, at present there are more adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) than children and adolescents. The three cardiac scientific societies — Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kardiologie — DGK (German Society of Cardiology), Deutsche Gesellschaft für P diatrische Kardiologie — DGPK (German Society of Pediatric Cardiology) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Thorax-, Herz- und Gefüchirurgie — DGTHG (German Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery) — have taken this fact into consideration and developed the statement of an integrated medical care of adult patients with CHD, the curriculum of post-doctoral education of pediatric and adult cardiologists and medical guidelines for diagnosis and therapy of CHD patients. The certification of adult CHD physicians and interregional centers of CHD in adults have been started. The approach enables to smooth the transition of CHD patients from children group to adult age group.