Cardiac morphology course with wet specimens in SickKids Hospital.
What happens to adults born with a heart defect? Through the sub-specialty of adult congenital heart disease1 (ACHD), more efforts are carried out to improve care and treatment including training programmes. Find out more about Asst. Prof. Low Ting Ting's ACHD fellowship in Toronto, Canada.
With more than 18,000 patients in its registry, Toronto General Hospital has trained more ACHD specialists than any other centres in the world. It was an educational experience training in a centre that cares for 9,500 active patients and provides adult congenital surgeries and catheter-based interventions2.
The number and complexity of ACHD patients are rapidly increasing and the medical community is facing new challenges in this unique population; tackling lesion specific complications3, pregnancy and heart disease, pulmonary hypertension4, as well as tough end-of-life decisions with re-operations and transplants.
With Dr. Gary Webb, a master clinician and visionary leader in the ACHD field.
I was fortunate to have three abstracts accepted at the 28th International Symposium on ACHD, hosted in Toronto. I spoke on my systematic review of pregnancy outcomes in pulmonary arterial hypertension and was a nominee for the young investigator research award. I was also awarded for my abstract on a study of sex-specific cardiovascular management at the Canadian Women's Heart Health Summit in Ottawa, Canada.
The fellowship year was a significant milestone in my personal growth. I am most grateful to my husband for his wholehearted support and to my children for stepping outside of their comfort zones. I look forward to contributing the experience I have gained back home.
1 A type of heart defect that exists from birth.
2 Minimally-invasive procedures using a thin tube inserted into the artery or vein.
3 Complications that arise due to the damage of an organ or tissue.
4 High blood pressure that affects the arteries of the lungs.
