Surgical treatment for severe congenital heart diseases

The surgical results in patients with severe congenital heart disease, who underwent surgical treatment between 1978 and 1981 at the National Cardiovascular Center, Japan, were analyzed. The surgical mortality rates were 4% for cases of ventricular septal defect associated with pulmonary hypertension in patients under 2 years of age, 16.7% for complete atrio-ventricular canal, 11% for coarctation of the aorta associated with ventricular septal defect, 40% for pure pulmonary atresia without Ebstein anomaly, 44% for total anomalous pulmonary venous return, 14.8% for transposition of the great arteries, 44% for double outlet right ventricle and 1.1% for tetralogy of Fallot. The surgical results have been improving and postoperative residua and sequelae have been decreasing through our persistent efforts. Today's main problem is a relatively poor performance in cases which need surgical intervention early in life, i.e., under 3 months of age. Therefore, we think that our effort to improve the surgical results for new-borns or very young infants is most necessary.