ABSTRACT
Introduction The sensitivity and specificity of prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease are constantly improving, owing to technical and scientific progress in the area of fetal echocardiography. Therefore, physicians working in the area of prenatal diagnostics are increasingly confronted with the pre-and postnatal physiology and alternatives for therapy of complex cardiac defects. Counseling of the parents concerned and the planning of pre-, peri-, and postnatal disease management are done in close cooperation between the gynecologist, pediatric cardiologist, cardiac surgeon, and neonatologist. This chapter gives an insight into the importance of peri-and postnatal adaptation of the circulation and the available choices of drug and interventional therapy of congenital heart diseases. Chapter 45 deals in more detail with the options of neonatal cardiac surgery.
