RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Loss to specialist follow-up in congenital heart disease; out of sight, out of mind JF Heart JO Heart FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Cardiovascular Society SP 485 OP 490 DO 10.1136/heartjnl-2012-302831 VO 99 IS 7 A1 Jo Wray A1 Alessandra Frigiola A1 Catherine Bull A1 Adult Congenital Heart disease Research Network (ACoRN) YR 2013 UL http://heart.bmj.com/content/99/7/485.abstract AB Objective To evaluate the scale and clinical importance of loss to follow-up of past patients with serious congenital heart disease, using a common malformation as an example. To better understand the antecedents of loss to specialist follow-up and patients’ attitudes to returning. Design Cohort study using NHS number functionality. Content and thematic analysis of telephone interviews of subset contacted after loss to follow-up. Patients, intervention and setting Longitudinal follow-up of complete consecutive list of all 1085 UK patients with repair of tetralogy of Fallot from single institution 1964–2009. Main outcome measures Survival, freedom from late pulmonary valve replacement, loss to specialist follow-up, shortfall in late surgical revisions related to loss to follow-up. Patients’ narrative about loss to follow-up. Results 216 (24%) of patients known to be currently alive appear not to be registered with specialist clinics; some are seen in general cardiology clinics. Their median age is 32 years and median duration of loss to follow-up is 22 years; most had been lost before Adult Congenital services had been consolidated in their present form. 48% of the late deaths to date have occurred in patients not under specialist follow-up. None of those lost to specialist follow-up has had secondary pulmonary valve replacement while 188 patients under specialist care have. Patients lost to specialist follow-up who were contacted by telephone had no knowledge of its availability. Conclusions Loss to specialist follow-up, typically originating many years ago, impacts patient management.