Impact of fetal cardiac intervention on congenital heart surgery.

Fetal cardiac interventions performed by interventional cardiologists are currently in a clinical experimental phase. The 3 most frequent interventions are: 1) aortic balloon valvuloplasty for critical aortic stenosis with a small left ventricle or with a normal size left ventricle but poor function; 2) atrial septostomy for highly restrictive or intact atrial septum in hypoplastic left heart syndrome; and 3) pulmonary valvuloplasty for pulmonary atresia and hypoplastic right ventricle. Current impact on everyday congenital heart surgery practice is small, but may increase in the future.