Congenital complete heart block in adolescence and adult life. A follow-up study

The clinical course in 70 adult patients with isolated congenital complete heart block is described. The mean age at follow-up was 31 years. Twenty-seven patients were diagnosed before one year of age. Seventy per cent of patients below 30 years of age and 29%ents above 30 years were symptom free. One group of 48 patients was prospectively followed for 12 years. During this time nine were paced and two died. No reliable indicators of bad prognosis were found. Aeliologically, congenital complete heart block is probably a mixed group and the difficulty of distinguishing congenital from acquired block is discussed.