Surgery for cyanotic heart disease in the first year of life

Data are reviewed on 248 patients less than 1 year old who presented with a diagnosis of cyanotic heart disease between January 1976 and January 1982. No infant had had prior surgical treatment. The patients were classified according to diagnosis: tetralogy of Fallot, transposition of the great arteries, pulmonary atresia and anomalies of the tricuspid atresia or single ventricle type. Other remote forms of cyanotic heart disease were excluded from the analysis. Management of these patient groups is discussed in relation to their potential for corrective surgery early in infancy or later. The proper selection of palliative procedures that will permit bilateral growth and development of pulmonary arteries and equal distribution of pulmonary blood flow is emphasized. Morbidity and mortality in each patient group are discussed.