Although many children who have congenital heart defects don't need treatment, some do. Doctors repair congenital heart defects with catheter procedures or surgery.
Sometimes doctors combine catheter and surgical procedures to repair complex heart defects, which may involve several kinds of defects.
The treatment your child receives depends on the type and severity of his or her heart defect. Other factors include your child's age, size, and general health.
Some children who have complex congenital heart defects may need several catheter or surgical procedures over a period of years, or they may need to take medicines for years.
Surgery
A child may need open-heart surgery if his or her heart defect can't be fixed using a catheter procedure. Sometimes one surgery can repair the defect completely. If that's not possible, the child may need more surgeries over months or years to fix the problem.
Cardiac surgeons may use open-heart surgery to:
