Anesthetic Considerations for Adult Cardiac Surgery Patients with Congenital Heart Disease

The number of adults with congenital heart disease surviving into adulthood is increasing. The proportion of adults undergoing revision of a previous repair is increasing in comparison to those that present for a palliative or curative operation. At the Toronto Congenital Cardiac Centre for Adults, 528 patients underwent cardiac surgery between January 1, 1992 and December 31, 2001. The anesthetic management of the surgical correction of simple and complex congenital heart lesions includes general physiologic considerations such as dysrhythmias, hypoxemia, polycythemia, and pulmonary hypertension. Palliative shunts from early childhood have anatomical and physiologic implications for the adult. Preparation for the operating room and postoperative care are natural extensions of the anesthetic management of the surgical correction of the congenital heart lesions. Anesthetic management of septal lesions in the interventional suite and operating room is discussed. Complex lesions such as tetralogy of Fallot, transposition of the great arteries, Glenn anastomosis, and the Fontan operation are reviewed. The anesthetic management of these patients is rewarding but impossible without an integrated team approach involving cardiologists, surgeons, perfusionists, and nursing staff.