U Clinical Progress Series Pediatric and Congenital Therapeutic Cardiac

T he concept that a catheter could be used for intracardiac therapy was first put into prac-tice in 19641 with the dilation of acquired peripheral vascular stenosis by graduated rigid dila-tors. Isolated cases of intracardiac therapy with a catheter had appeared as early as 19532; however, the balloon atrial septostomy developed by Dr. Rashkind and reported in 19663 was the first pedi-atric and the first intracardiac therapeutic proce-dure with a catheter to be used as a routine form of therapy. This extremely innovative yet relatively crude procedure rapidly became the standard emer-gency therapy for the newborn with transposition of the great arteries. The balloon atrial septostomy not only proved lifesaving for hundreds of critically il