A recent study at the University of San Francisco showed that infants having serious heart defects were more likely to survive corrective surgery when diagnosed before birth with a standard prenatal ultrasound. Just two thirds of the babies diagnosed after their birth survived the surgery. However, those studies were smaller and may not reflect recent medical advances in managing infants with this defect. HLHS babies have an undeveloped left side of their heart, which is the main pumping chamber. The defect is usually fatal if untreated and infants with the condition usually die within a few days of birth.
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. Tworetzky says without the benefit of prenatal diagnosis, many HLHS babies are born at hospitals that lack the equipment necessary to care for them. On the other hand, parents who have received prenatal diagnosis of HLHS and choose to have their infant undergo surgery can make arrangements in advance for their baby to be delivered at a medical center prepared to treat the condition. The first operation is the most difficult and carries the highest risk of death. Researchers compared the impact of prenatal and postnatal diagnosis on the preoperative health of infants with HLHS and reviewed the outcome of the crucial first stage of surgery.