[Surgery of complex congenital cardiopathies]

The present is a brief report about the advances in treatment of complex congenital heart defects at our institution, including the importance of prenatal detection, improved perioperative management, the surgical technique, the anesthesia control extended into the postoperative period, the extraordinary advances in cardiopulmonary bypass technology, and postoperative management. The operative mortality now is low for many cardiac defects, as result of a team of experienced surgeons, anesthesiologists, cardiologists, and nurses working together in the treatment of these patients. The issue of concern is now on the assessment of hemodynamic and neurodevelopmental status in the long-term follow-up. Further improvements in the surgical management of infants with complex congenital heart defects are required, and evaluation of these new techniques will likely come from prospective, randomized trials with large patient cohorts and long-term follow-up.