Heart Encyclopedia

Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome

Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome  

1. Hypoplastic ascending aorta and aortic arch.

2. Large patent ductus arteriosus supplying the only source of blood flow to the body.

3. Hypoplastic left ventricle.

4. Atrial septal defect allowing blood returning from lungs to reach the single ventricle.

HLHS Repair | Start

HLHS Repair | Completed

5. The PDA has been ligated and the hypoplastic aorta is opened longitudinally from the descending aorta to near its origin at the heart.

6. The main pulmonary artery has been divided and the distal end closed.

7. A Gore-Tex modified Blalock-Taussig shunt from the innominate artery to the right pulmonary artery supplies blood flow to the lungs.

8. The aorta has been reconstructed using the proximal main pulmonary artery, the hypoplastic aorta, and a patch so that the single right ventricle now ejects primarily to the body.