Living with complex congenital heart disease

A child with complex congenital heart disease in 2008 is very likely to survive a series of surgical and medical interventions, and confront an array of medical and psychosocial stressors that are presently poorly understood. As approaches to medical problems change, careful assessment of those results is essential, and the initial work of the multicentre Pediatric Heart Network is a huge step in the right direction, setting the stage for proper controlled trials of therapies. Major complications, notably ventricular failure, rhythm problems and thromboembolism, will affect nearly one-quarter of survivors, necessitating further interventions. Appropriate educational and psychosocial support for these children and their families is the next challenge for all of us in the field of paediatrics. How ironic would it be to have invested so much in early survival, only to allow the child to fail in life itself.