The Treatment of Cardiac Emergencies in Infancy.

THE treatment of cardiac emergencies in infancy is concerned mainly with the treatment of cardiac failure, cyanotic attacks. arrhythmias and cardiac arrest. The vast majority of infants requiring such treatment have some underlying congenital cardiac abnormality. Cardiac failure, if not associated with a congenital heart lesion, may be due to infections acquired in the perinatal period, such as viral myocarditis, toxic myocarditis in an overwhelming bacterial infection, to paroxysmal tachycardia, metabolic disorders such as glycogen storage disease, or may occur in the respiratory distress syndrome of the new born. All congenital cardiac abnormalities may cause cardiac faiilure, the treatment of which sbould be thorough and intensive to enable further diagnostic investigations to be carried out, if indicated, with a view to curative or palliative surgery. In the infective and metabolic lesions there is no place for surgery and supportive medical treatment offers the only hope for the infant. Accurate diagnosis, however, is essential as unwarranted surgical interference in some cases may lead to untimely and avoidable death.