- Emergency
- Prenatal information.
- Congenital heart defects.
- Atrial septal defect (ASD).
- Atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD).
- Ventricular septal defect (VSD).
- Aortopulmonary window.
- Aortic arch anomalies.
- Coarctation of the aorta.
- Interrupted aortic arch.
- Persistent ductus arteriosus (PDA).
- Cor triatriatrum.
- Ebstein’s anomaly.
- Pulmonary stenosis.
- Fallot’s tetralogy.
- Coronary artery anomalies.
- D-transposition of the great arteries (d-TGA).
- Aortic stenosis (AS).
- Total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC).
- Pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum (PA + IVS).
- Double Outlet Right Ventricle (DORV).
- Truncus Arteriosus (TA).
- Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS).
- Univentricular heart (UVH).
- Treatment principles.
- Heart transplantation in infancy and childhood.
- Children's ward.
Truncus Arteriosus (TA)
If a septum fails to develop in the embryonic vascular tube, the truncus arteriosus occurs as a single vessel trunk from which originate the ascending aorta (to supply the systemic circulation), the pulmonary arteries (for the lung circulation) and the coronary arteries. In addition, there is always a high ventricular septal defect located under the truncus. The following four types can be distinguished according to the pattern of origin:
- In type I, there is a single main pulmonary trunk arising dorsolaterally from the truncus.
- In type II, the right and left pulmonary arteries originate separately from the posterior wall of the truncus arteriosus at about the same level.
- In type III, the right and left pulmonary arteries originate separately at different levels laterally from the truncus arteriosus.
- In type IV, there are no central pulmonary vessels. Lung perfusion is exclusively through aortopulmonary collaterals (”MAPCAs").
Operation is usually desirable in early infancy. It is performed with extracorporeal circulation, often with hypothermic circulatory arrest, and consists of separating the systemic and pulmonary circulation by patch closure of the ventricular septal defect with creation of a new right ventricular outflow tract. There are usually greater problems with type IV, where unifocalisation is desirable as in pulmonary atresia with VSD.