title: Current status of surgery for congenital heart diseases.
abstract: Results of the surgical treatment of congenital heart diseases have improved significantly in the recent past, with an overall hospital mortality rate of less than 4 per cent. This has been due to improved preoperative diagnosis, intraoperative management, and postoperative care. Aggressive intervention in early infancy and attempts at total repair rather than palliation in cases such as ventricular septal defect, tetralogy of Fallot, and others has optimized the long-term outcome. The introduction of new procedures has made it possible to treat patients who were considered unoperable in the past, such as tricuspid atresia, single ventricle, and hypoplastic left ventricle. Continued progress in the field of cardiac transplantation promises hope for the few remaining unoperable lesions.
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: M N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Ilbawi
mesh_terms: D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000601:surgery*; D006343:Heart Septal Defects / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011652:Pulmonary Circulation