From cyanotic infant to acyanotic adult - the odyssey of blue babies.

An edited summary of an Interdepartmental Conference arranged by the Department of Medicine of the UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles. Director of Conferences: William M. Pardridge, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine.In the past two decades we have witnessed the maturing of diagnostic and surgical skills in the management of congenital heart disease. Although longevity and quality of life have improved, cures are few; varying degrees of postoperative medical supervision are therefore needed. This new patient population of adults requiring long-term medical care continues to increase. Proper management of such patients can be taxing, requiring knowledge not only of the preoperative disease but also of the nature and effects of surgical intervention and of the presence, type and extent of late postoperative residua and sequelae. The tetralogy of Fallot is taken as a model because it is well known in both pediatric and adult medicine, because intracardiac repair includes a wide range of techniques and because postoperative residua and sequelae comprise a broad spectrum of patient care concerns.