What is the outcome for a fetus with congenital heart disease?
Most congenital heart defects can be repaired after birth with excellent results. However, a few severe defects, such as those that lead to maldevelopment of one of the pumping chambers, may not be correctable after birth, or it may require a series of open heart surgeries that, even if successful, result in abnormal circulation (single ventricle physiology) and life-long limitations. It is those fetuses with distinct structural defects that lead to death or life-long difficulty that are candidates for fetal intervention.
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