Abstract
Low birth weight is a risk factor for poor outcome after surgery for congenital heart diseases.The estimated prevalence of low birth weight in Japanese neonates with congenital heart diseases ranges between 34% and 36%,indicating that the outcome of heart surgery in low-birth-weight infants significantly affects the overall outcome of congenital heart surgery in Japan.Although intentional delay of heart surgery because of low birth weight is reported to be unwarranted in the literature,approximately half of the infants with congenital heart diseases undergo delayed heart surgery with outcomes similar to that after early surgery.In the literature,corrective surgery,rather than palliative surgery,is recommended for low-birth-weight infants.On the other hand,hybrid procedures and percutaneous interventions are increasingly performed as valid options in infants with extreme low birth weight or co-morbidities.The timing and type of cardiac intervention in low-birth-weight infants should be individualized according to body weight,type of heart disease,and associated extracardiac diseases.
