Interventional cardiac catheterisation in congenital heart disease.

As a result of recent technological advances, more types of congenital heart disease are amenable to treatment in the cardiac catheter laboratory than ever before.1 Improved imaging techniques allow for better selection of patients, and the development of a wide range of devices specifically for use in children means that many patients can avoid surgery altogether, while those with complex congenital heart disease may require fewer or less complex surgical procedures.2 This allows for a quicker recovery and a shorter hospital stay, and gives many patients an improved quality of life in the short to medium term. However, the long term outcome for many of the newer forms of intervention is still unknown.