[Heart surgery in infants and children based on echocardiographic diagnosis].

The authors report on 134 heart operations performed with infants and children on the basis of echocardiography (2-dimensional and Doppler's). Correction was made in 77 cases and palliation in 57 cases. The majority of the operations was performed with infants suffering from left heart obstruction and being in critical state. Diagnostic error or pseudo-negative cases influencing unfavourably the course of the illness did not occur. It is stated that a 2-dimensional echocardiography furnishing detailed anatomical diagnosis concerning each intracardiac segment is the condition of heart operations. Hemodynamic information given by Doppler's echocardiography are of importance firstly in the indication for operation in complex cardiac failures.