Abstract: Objective To evaluate the surgical techniques and efficacy of transthoracic minimally invasive treatment for low age-weight infants with congenital heart disease (CHD). Methods From December 2011 to September 2015, 80 infants with CHD [18 cases with atrial septal defect (ASD), 29 cases with ventricular septal defect (VSD), 17 cases with patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), one case with right coronary artery-right atrium fistula, two cases with pulmonary stenosis (PS) and 13 cases with complex deformity] received transthoracic minimally invasive treatment in Dalian Children's Hospital. Of all these patients, the body weight was (6.51±1.42) kg (3~10 kg), and the average age was (4.65±3.42) months (1-13 months). Under general anesthesis without extracorporeal circulation, the occlusion device or the balloon was deployed under transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) guidance to close defect or to expand pulmonary valve. Results The operations were completed successfully in all the 80 cases. The 80 patients were followed up for 1 to 45 months. None of them showed heart disorder, residual shunt, occluder displacement, thrombus, hemorrhage or new valve regurgitation. Conclusion TEE-guided minimally invasive interventional therapy of CHD is effective and safe if operation indications and operations way are correct for low age-weight infants withcardiopulmonary insufficiency.
2016, Vol. 4 
