This monograph is succinctly written, up-to-date, very readable, and well referenced. In less than 200 pages the authors, one a heart surgeon and the other a pediatric cardiologist, cover quite well the management of small infants with symptomatic heart disease, by relating the anatomy and pathophysiology to the natural history of the various entities. The approach to treatment is confined to surgery, and they present the risks, expected outcome, and currently available surgical approaches for each type of cardiac defect. Controversial aspects of treatment are mentioned, but the authors, in general, state a preference based on their own considerable experience. Aside from a few diagrams, there are no illustrations. Brief chapters on cardiac catheterization, anesthetic management during surgery, and postoperative respiratory care are written by appropriate experts and help provide a nice overview of the whole problem.
This reviewer found the physiological concepts presented to be sound and clearly stated.