Herzkatheterinterventionen bei angeborenen Herzfehlern: Kleiner Eingriff, große Wirkung

Transcatheter therapy has gained an important role in the treatment of children with congenital heart diseases. Simple defects like atrial septal defects and patent ducts can often be cured completely by catheter interventions, while only a minority of patients with ventricular septal defects can be treated. Balloon dilatations of the pulmonary and aortic valves are well accepted interventions. Stents, sometimes covered with a membrane, are very efficient for eliminating vessel stenoses and are also increasingly being implanted in younger children with aortic coarctation. The latest development with considerable impact on the treatment of congenital heart defects is the transcatheter pulmonary valve implantation. Finally, hybrid therapy joins surgical and transcatheter interventions in one single procedure to combine the specific advantages of the respective methods.