In a study of infants with a serious heart defect, babies diagnosed before birth using a standard prenatal ultrasound were more likely to survive the initial surgery to correct the defect, while only two-thirds of the babies diagnosed after birth survived. The study was performed at the University of San Francisco. However, those studies were smaller and may not reflect recent medical advances in managing infants with this defect. In HLHS, the left side of the heart the heart s main pumping chamber is underdeveloped and unable to support blood circulation after birth. Without treatment, the defect is usually fatal within the first several days of life.
Treatment involves a series of surgeries.
It affords time for physicians both to counsel parents and to optimize early treatment, which allows the infant to be in the best condition for surgery. He says that without the benefit of prenatal diagnosis, many babies with HLHS are born in a facility that is not equipped to care for them. The delay in diagnosis may lead to the infant going into shock or suffering multiple organ damage among other complications all of which limit the success of the initial surgery. On the other hand, parents who have received prenatal diagnosis of HLHS and choose to have their infant undergo surgery can plan for their baby to be delivered at a medical center that is prepared to treat the condition. The first operation is the most difficult and carries the highest risk of death.