Eighteen months' experience with remote diagnosis, management and education in congenital heart disease

In July 1998, a telemedicine link was established between the Venizelio General Hospital in Crete and the Paediatric Cardiology Department of the Aghia Sophia Children's Hospital in Athens. The telemedicine link used ISDN at 384 kbit/s for diagnosis, management and education in congenital heart disease. Over 18 months, a total of 39 teleconsultations were carried out, concerning 93 children with haemodynamically significant cardiac abnormalities. Forty-four children (47%) were managed locally after teleconsultation, while three children with transposition of the great arteries (3%) were transported as emergency cases to Athens in the first days of life. The other 46 children (50%) had a scheduled appointment at a tertiary centre for cardiac catheterization, angiocardiography, operative treatment or surgical repair. The telemedicine link brought a number of benefits, such as better access to the tertiary centre and the avoidance of patient transportation.