Metabolic Syndrome in Adults With Congenital Heart Disease

<jats:sec xml:lang="en"> <jats:title>Background</jats:title> <jats:p xml:lang="en"> Metabolic syndrome increases risk for atherosclerotic coronary artery disease, and its prevalence increases with increasing age and body mass index. Adults with congenital heart disease ( <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ACHD</jats:styled-content> ) are now living longer and accruing coronary artery disease risk factors. However, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ACHD</jats:styled-content> patients is unknown. </jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec xml:lang="en"> <jats:title>Methods and Results</jats:title> <jats:p xml:lang="en"> We conducted a retrospective cohort study of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ACHD</jats:styled-content> patients at our center to quantify the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in an <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ACHD</jats:styled-content> population. Using case‐control matching, we constructed a comparable control group from a population‐based sample of 150 104 adults. International Diabetes Federation criteria were used to define metabolic syndrome. We used logistic regression to compare the risk of metabolic syndrome across the resulting cohorts, which were composed of 448 <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ACHD</jats:styled-content> patients and 448 controls matched by age and sex. Mean age of both groups was 32.4±11.3 years, and 51.3% were female. Obesity was present in 16.1% of the <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ACHD</jats:styled-content> patients and 16.7% of the controls. Metabolic syndrome was more common in <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ACHD</jats:styled-content> patients than in controls (15.0% versus 7.4%; odds ratio 1.82, 95% <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CI</jats:styled-content> 1.25–2.65). </jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec xml:lang="en"> <jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title> <jats:p xml:lang="en"> Our data suggest that metabolic syndrome is more common among adults with congenital heart disease than in the general population. Thus, patients with congenital heart disease should be screened for metabolic syndrome and risk factors mitigated where possible to prevent atherosclerotic coronary artery disease. Preventive cardiology should be included during routine <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ACHD</jats:styled-content> care. </jats:p> </jats:sec>