Abstract
Some achievements in the treatment of congenital heart defects are discussed. Special comments are made about the persistent ductus arteriosus, atrial septal defect, transposition of the great arteries and the Fontan operation. The differences and similarities between 'corrective' and 'palliative' operations are discussed. The history of the development of supraregional centres in England and Wales is described and the current situation outlined. The relationship between the number of operations performed and results is emphasised. Current and future training of paediatric cardiac surgeons is discussed and proposals made for the future organisation of care for children with congenital heart defects. The author speculates about how these problems will be solved in view of the decreasing number of children with congenital heart defects. Impact of treatment on the families of patients with congenital heart defects is also considered.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Fontan F., Baudet E. Surgical repair of tricuspid atresia. Thorax. 1971 May;26(3):240–248. doi: 10.1136/thx.26.3.240. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Jatene A. D., Fontes V. F., Paulista P. P., de Souza L. C., Neger F., Galantier M., Souza J. E. Successful anatomic correction of transposition of the great vessels. A preliminary report. Arq Bras Cardiol. 1975 Aug;28(4):461–464. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Norwood W. I., Dobell A. R., Freed M. D., Kirklin J. W., Blackstone E. H. Intermediate results of the arterial switch repair. A 20-institution study. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 1988 Dec;96(6):854–863. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rosengart T. K., Stark J. F. Repair of atrial septal defect through a right thoracotomy. Ann Thorac Surg. 1993 May;55(5):1138–1140. doi: 10.1016/0003-4975(93)90020-i. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Senning A. Correction of the transposition of the great arteries. Ann Surg. 1975 Sep;182(3):287–292. doi: 10.1097/00000658-197509000-00011. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Singh A. K., Stark J., Taylor J. F. Left ventricle to pulmonary artery conduit in treatment of transposition of great arteries, restrictive ventricular septal defect, and acquired pulmonary atresia. Br Heart J. 1976 Nov;38(11):1213–1216. doi: 10.1136/hrt.38.11.1213. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Stark J. Do we really correct congenital heart defects? J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 1989 Jan;97(1):1–9. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Stark J. Predicting the unpredictable. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 1994;8(1):1–6. doi: 10.1016/1010-7940(94)90124-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]