The majority of<unk> es are performed on infants with d-TGA or other cyanotic heart defects. In these cases, a balloon catheter is guided through a large vein into the right atrium, during cardiac catheterization. The catheter is threaded into the foramen ovale, a naturally existing hole between the<unk> that normally closes shortly after birth. The balloon at the end of the catheter is inflated so as to enlarge the foramen ovale enough that it will no longer become sealed. This allows more oxygenated blood to enter the right heart (especially in the case of d-TGA) where it can be pumped to the rest of the body. The balloon is deflated and the catheter is removed. Sometimes the initial surgery is not entirely successful, or there are other factors that make a simple balloon<unk>  impossible, such as an older patient whose foramen ovale has already closed. This is when a blade<unk>  is performed. The details of the procedure are largely the same, except that a small blade on the end of the catheter is first used to create an opening between the right and left<unk>  before the insertion of the balloon. The Rashkind balloon<unk>  is performed during cardiac catheterization (heart cath), in which a balloon catheter is used to enlarge a foramen ovale, patent foramen ovale (PFO), or<unk>  septal defect (ASD) in order to increase oxygen saturation in patients with cyanotic congenital heart defects (CHDs). It was developed in 1966 by American surgeons William Rashkind and William Miller at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. William Rashkind was not a surgeon, but a pediatric cardiologist at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He was one of the fathers of the field of interventional catheterization, and he developed not only this life-saving technique and device for neonates with transposition of the great arteries, but also devices to close<unk>  septal defects (ASDs) and persistent patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). He was the chief of the Division of Pediatric Cardiology at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia until his death in 1986 from malignant melanoma.
Atrial septostomy
Arterial switch operation
Pulmonary artery banding
Percutaneous pulmonary valve implantation
Cardiomyoplasty
Pericardial window
Robot-assisted double heart valve replacement
Fontan procedure