Pediatric Cardiologist vs. Adult Cardiologist?

[neo]

Hey, I'm 35 and have been seeing a pediatric cardiologist since I was born with congenital aortic stenosis. I continued to see him, despite that he sees mostly little kids, because he had more familiarity with congenital issues than others. Now that I have a replacement aortic valve and am being monitored for the valve as well as blood pressure, etc., would it not be smarter to see an adult cardiologist? Who do you all see, and if you switched at some point, are you happy with a more adult perspective?

Thanks!

 

[Debbrn]

I actually see an adult congenital heart specialist. It is an adult cardiologist trained in congenital cardiology. I have a moderately complex congenital heart defect called tetralogy of fallot. It is not a defect that regular cardiologists are familiar with. Aortic valve stenosis is seen more by adult cardiologist than my defect. The important question would be how many similar patients does a particular doc see. Others will chime in about their experience.

 

[tom in MO]

If he's done good by you, I'd ask your current cardiologist. Who else better than him to judge whether or not he has the ability to treat you? That being said, if you are 35 and been seeing him since you've been a child, you may need to get a new doctor in a few years due to his retirement. So having the conversation before you get the retirment letter would be prudent.

 

[mom2angel]

I'm 34 and I still see a pediatric cardiologist. He suggested that I stay with them, because they know more about childhood heart problems. If he ever suggests that I switch, I will look into it. I've been happy with my cardiologist. I've also had the same nurse for 32 years, since I started going there. So that makes it nice.

 

[Aggie85]

Like Dbbrn I'm a TOF survivor. I've bounced back and forth between the two depending in where my husband was stationed in the military and which was available. I will say, generally when I showed up in an adult cardio Docs office they FREAKED about my enlarged heart with all the murmurs until I could get them to understand this was my "normal". That being said, there are issues, such as Coronary Artery Disease that tend to be ignored by the Pediatric Docs. There is a new field, in fact my Dr. at Cleveland Clinic is one of the first Board Certified ACHD (Adult w Congenital Heart Defects) Docs in the country. Bridging the two age groups is their specific training. There is a web site specifically supporting ACHD patients. Just search ACHD as the acronym or written out and it should show up.

Your defect is one of those truly bridging the two populations. You have a congenital defect but for the most part your heart's overall structure is normal. If there aren't any ACHD clinics or Drs near you, I'd go with which ever you feel most comfortable with but maybe yearly have them refer you to a specialist in the other field just to make sure everything on the other side is still ok.

Linda

 

[mcsf]

I am 40 and I see a cardiologist in an adult congenital heart clinic at UCSF in San Francisco, CA. I saw a pediatric cardiologist at UCSF until I was 30. I would have kept seeing my pediatric cardiologist but he went into pure research. Stay with whom you are comfortable with. I had AVR surgery in February this year and the pediatric team performed the surgery. If I have surgery in the future it will be with a pediatric surgeon. Plus, the pediatric ICU is way better than the adult ICU from my experience.