Echocardiogram-Guided Stenting of a Critical Aortic Coarctation in an Extremely Low Weight Preterm Infant

Percutaneous closure of simple congenital heart diseases under echocardiographic guidance

“…Although the traditional method can provide some visual images and tracking guidance under the guidance of fluorescent radiation and the use of contrast agents, there is no doubt about the risks of this treatment strategy, especially for cardiac surgeons who often carry out surgical intervention, kidney dysfunction and children in the growth and development stage [ 80 ]. Research has shown that the use of contrast agents to induce kidney disease during medical testing or treatment is more common in clinical practice and is the main cause of 10% of patients with acute renal failure [ 81 – 83 ]. In addition, due to the unique characteristics of infants and children, high sensitivity to radiation, wide range of exposure areas, and potential for repetitive manipulation, as well as immature growth and development, the risk of long-term radiation exposure through catheter intervention is highly controversial and cannot be ignored [ 50 , 51 ].…”

“…One challenge faced by this new technology is how to apply it in low-weight or vascular dysplasia infants and young children. Notedly, Mini et al [ 82 , 83 ] reported echocardiogram guidance stenting of the aortic arch in very- low and extremely-low weight babies (600 g to 1300 g) with renal failure and showed that the interventions in such babies were feasible and can be done at the bedside to avoid transfer such babies to the cath lab. However, there is no experience in other CHDs.…”