[15 years of minimally invasive paediatric cardiac surgery; development and trends].

Introduction: The minimally invasive approach is seldom reported in paediatric cardiac surgery. Teams gathering experience are scarce, with programs focused on simple cases. The experience is presented on a series of over 200 cases operated on in the past 15 years.

Palliative arterial switch as first-line treatment before the fontan procedure in patients with single-ventricle physiology and subaortic stenosis.

Introduction And Objectives: There are several techniques for the palliative treatment of patients with single-ventricle physiology, ventriculoarterial discordance and subaortic stenosis. The Fontan procedure relies on optimal initial palliation to avoid the development of subaortic stenosis (as well as ventricular hypertrophy and diastolic dysfunction).

Methods: We present seven patients with single-ventricle physiology, transposition of the great arteries and subaortic stenosis, with low systemic output and high pulmonary flow, aged 21 to 383 days (median, 75) and weighing between 3.

[Comparative study of thoracic approaches in atrial septal defect closure].

Our early experience in approaching ASD by right thoracotomy as opposed to midline sternotomy is presented. Between July 2000 and December 2001, 15 patients (group A) were operated by right thoracotomy. Mean age of patients was 8.

Aortic coarctation, vascular ring, and right aortic arch with aberrant subclavian artery.

Right aortic arch, in all situations, is relatively rare. In association with coarctation and vascular compression, it is extremely rare. We present a patient with a right aortic arch and an aberrant left subclavian artery, in addition to coarctation.