Myocardial performance after repair of congenital heart defects in infants and children: Response to volume loading

Intracardiac repair of congenital cardiac defects (CCD) using cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is performed with an acceptably low morbidity and mortality, but the procedure may affect immediate or long-term cardiac function. The effect of such repair on myocardial function in the hours immediately following CPB has not been examined. We investigated the haemodynamic response to increasing left atrial pressure (LAP) by volume loading in infants and children during the first 24 hours after repair of CCD.