Strategies for high-risk reoperations in congenital heart disease

Adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) is a rapidly growing group of patients, and part of this is owing to the improvement in survival for the vast majority of infants with CHD who have undergone successful surgery and live well into adult years. Residual or recurrent lesions may precipitate the need for reoperation and some patients require numerous surgical procedures or interventions over a lifetime. This article will review the surgical issues associated with reoperation in patients with CHD and discuss the different perioperative strategies that serve to decrease the risk of reoperation.