Mental disorders tied to lower survival in congenital heart disease
At 50 years of follow-up, survival probability was 55% for patients with a mental disorder compared with 74% for matched patients without one.
Limit: Registry records could miss mental disorders in the comparison group
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
In a nationwide observational study, researchers tracked 18,749 people born in Sweden between 1952 and 2005 who survived to age 18 with congenital heart disease, a heart defect present from birth. A total of 6,360 patients developed a mental disorder. Each was matched to two patients without one based on birth year, sex and defect complexity. Women made up 55.7% of the group with mental disorders, which had an average follow-up of 10.4 years.
Patients with a mental disorder had an adjusted hazard ratio—a relative measure of risk—of 3.13 for death from any cause compared with those without one. Mental disorders were also linked to higher risks of stroke, cardiovascular disease and ischemic heart disease, a condition of reduced blood flow to the heart. The range of likely values for cancer risk included no difference between the groups.
Why it matters
More than 97% of children born in Sweden with congenital heart disease are expected to reach adulthood, raising questions about their long-term care. The authors said screening for mental disorders should be considered in all patients with the condition.
Caveats
The observational design cannot establish that mental disorders caused the higher mortality or cardiovascular complications. The findings came from Swedish registry data and were reported in a conference abstract.
The paper
Excess mortality and cardiovascular risk in adults with congenital heart disease and mental disorder
Institute of Medicine - Sahlgrenska Academy - University of Gothenburg
ESC Congress 2026 Abstract, Oct 26, 2026
Presented at ESC Congress 2026
