Congenital heart diseaseCohort study
Life-Course Noncardiac Comorbidity Burden and Mortality in Lower-Complexity Congenital Heart Disease
- population-based prospective cohort study
Authors' conclusion
Lower-complexity CHD is associated with higher lifetime noncardiac comorbidity burden and increased subsequent mortality. These findings support a shift toward integrated, life-course clinical management.
Study context
- Population
- Adults with lower-complexity congenital heart disease (CHD) and individuals without CHD from the UK Biobankadults with lower-complexity CHD 3,316 · individuals without CHD 492,232
- Participants
- 3,316 vs 492,232
- Exposure
- adults with lower-complexity CHD compared to individuals without CHD
- lower-complexity CHDn = 3,316
- without CHDn = 492,232
- Outcome
- first occurrence of 9 system-specific noncardiac comorbidities
- Follow-up
- Median approximately 13 years; lifetime risk from age 40 to 90
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
- Absolute lifetime risk, skin disease
- 17.1%
- Absolute lifetime risk, digestive disease
- 45.8%
- Excess risk, endocrine
- 18.6%
- Excess risk, digestive
- 15.7%
- Excess risk, pulmonary
- 12.5%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Secondary outcomes
all-cause mortality among individuals with lower-complexity CHD, by incident comorbidity status
- incident noncardiac comorbidities independently associated with increased subsequent all-cause mortality, with pulmonary disease conferring the strongest relative rate
- secondary outcome
- time-varying Cox regression models
Original publication
Life-Course Noncardiac Comorbidity Burden and Mortality in Lower-Complexity Congenital Heart Disease. JACC Adv. Published 24 September 2026. doi:10.1016/j.jacadv.2026.103278
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it