Timing of surgery for congenital heart disease

  The surgical treatment of precocious heart disease not only has certain indications, but also should pay attention to the timing of surgery. Recently, it is advocated to operate in preschool age (3-6 years old), so that it can not affect children’s learning, and at the same time, the psychological experience brought to children in early surgery is less than that of older age, and the impact on the psychological and physical growth of children is also less. If the severity of the lesion does not allow waiting, the surgery can be performed earlier, but the mortality rate is higher.  If the optimal surgery period is missed, the child may be left with varying degrees of damage to other organs, especially damage to the pulmonary artery vessels, such as pulmonary hypertension, and the opportunity for surgery may be lost in severe cases. If the child is within 2 years of age, some children may undergo palliative surgery first and then corrective surgery later. Patients who are too old, especially those over 30 years old, are more likely to have irreversible damage to their organs due to long-term cardiac overload, which increases the risk of surgery, and they cannot fully recover after surgery.  It is well established that treatment in adulthood is not as beneficial as treatment in childhood because of more complications, slow recovery and high mortality. The timing of surgery is determined by the specialist.