Interventional cardiac procedures in neonates and infants: state of the art

The currently available interventional cardiac procedures in neonates and infants are at various stages of development. We currently dilate neonates and infants with critical valvular pulmonary and aortic stenosis and postoperative aortic obstruction. We do not routinely dilate native coarctation of the aorta because of the possibility of aneurysm formation, unless the neonate is very sick and acidotic and an operative approach is considered to be high risk. Balloon and blade atrial septostomy are done routinely whenever indicated with a low incidence of morbidity. Coil embolization, endomyocardial biopsy, foreign body retrieval and percutaneous pericardial drainage are relatively safe, and with the currently available instruments these techniques can be performed safely in neonates and infants with the same indications as for older patients. We currently consider stenotic pulmonary veins to be an undilatable lesion and an optimal therapy remains to be defined. Transcatheter closure of PDA and intracardiac shunts is presently limited to older patients, due to the large size of the delivery system devices and cannot currently be used in neonates. Dilation of the pulmonary valve in cyanotic congenital heart disease appears useful, but further experience is needed.