Pediatrics

Biography

Biography: Howard S Weber

Abstract

Since the introduction of the first interventional pediatric catheterization technique of balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty in the early 1980’s, the field of interventional pediatric cardiology has expanded exponentially. Cardiac catheterization for congenital heart disease prior to the 1980’s was utilized entirely for diagnostic purposes which currently has been replaced by non-invasive imaging modalities such as two dimensional echocardiography, magnetic resonance imaging and ultrafast CT scanning. As a result, many patients with congenital heart disease do not require a diagnostic cardiac catheterization prior to surgical repair. In contrast, the majority of cardiac catheterization procedures performed in children and adults with structural congenital heart disease today are for therapeutic purposes. This lecture will focus on the current strategies and therapies that have been developed over the past thirty years for the treatment various congenital heart defects which can be corrected in the catheterization lab thereby avoid the need for invasive cardiac surgery and cardiopulmonary bypass. A description of various procedures and results will be presented including several specific techniques that have been developed at the Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital.