Approximately 120 different surgical procedures are used to correct congenital heart diseases, and the burden that this places on the surgeon is compounded by the exceptional complexity of the techniques and the rarity of many of the lesions. Training is problematic, not least because of legal issues, and currently available texts, drawings, and images are no substitute for real 'live' surgery.
Against this background, the authors have set out to create an interactive multimedia manual that covers many aspects of congenital heart surgery. Each heart defect is addressed in an individual chapter, elaborating specific surgical anatomy and indication for surgery of heart defect first, followed by video clips depicting the operative approach and technique. The clips are accompanied by a clear descriptive narrative, and patient history and diagnostic images are available to provide a clear backdrop to the operation. The chosen format makes this manual not only a very powerful teaching tool for practicing cardiac surgeons and surgeons in training but also a valuable source of information for related services such as pediatric and adult cardiologists, cardiac anesthesiologist, cardiac intensivists, perfusionists and medical students.
About the Author: Viktor Hraska, MD, PhD, was trained at Boston Children's Hospital, USA. For the past 12 years he has been in charge of the pediatric cardiac surgical programs at the Children's Hospital, Bratislava, Slovakia and University Hospital Eppendorf Hamburg, Germany. Currently he is the surgeon-in-chief of the German Pediatric Heart Center, Sankt Augustin, Germany, which is responsible for one of the leading programs in the country. He is the author or co-author of more than 50 papers published in peer review journals. He has also contributed to two books on cardiac surgery. Currently he serves on the editorial board of the World Journal for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery and is a reviewer for the Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Annals of Thoracic Surgery, and European Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery.
Peter Murín, MD, is a Cardiac Surgical Resident at the German Pediatric Heart Center, Sankt Augustin, Germany. He previously started his surgical training at the Adult Cardiac Surgery Department, Oldenburg, Germany from 2006 to 2008 after receiving his MD at the Medical School, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.
