J.Jpn. Surg. Soc.. 115(5): 270-274, 2014

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Feature topic

INFORMED CONSENT IN CONGENITAL DEFECT HEART SURGERY

In pediatric cardiac surgery, informed consent is often obtained from the patient's parents. The parents are commonly under great stress due to being in a situation where they have to make the important decision of whether their child will undergo cardiac surgery. Cardiac surgery does not necessarily determine the patient's prognosis if he or she has other organ anomalies or systemic diseases. In such cases, communication among the cardiac surgeon, pediatrician, and family becomes even more crucial. In pediatric cardiac surgery, it is important to obtain informed consent with adequate explanations, an understanding of the parents' stressful situation, and knowledge of the patient's background. In this article, we introduce two examples of obtaining informed consent for two common pediatric cardiac operations, atrial septal defect closure and ventricular septal defect closure.

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