Cardiac performance in 54 patients with total anomalous pulmonary venous connection was investigated by cardiac catheterization before and after surgery. 51 patients underwent intracardiac repair, and 17 of them died during or immediately after operation. According to the preoperative study, the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of surviving patients was significantly higher than that of patients who died, and the pulmonary arterial mean pressure of surviving patients was significantly lower than that of patients who died. However, there was no significant difference between the left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV), right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF), and right ventricular end-diastolic volume (RVEDV) in surviving patients and those who died. Post-operative catheterization studies showed significant increases of LVEF and LVEDV compared to pre-operative figures. RVEF and RVEDV and pulmonary arterial mean pressure decreased significantly after surgery. It was concluded that preoperative cardiac performance of surviving patients was better than that of those who died, and post-operative cardiac performance of surviving patients was basically normal.