Cyanotic congenital heart disease: Surgical techniques and pitfalls.

A review is presented of the currently employed approaches and techniques for the treatment of several forms of cyanotic congenital heart disease. Emphasis is placed on unusual associated defects which require special approaches for management. The question of definitive repair in infancy, as opposed to early palliation and later repair, is particularly pertinent to these conditions. It is evident that considerable progress has been made during the thirty-year evolution of surgery for congenital heart disease, but there are many advances yet to be made.