Little Hearts Matter - Half a Heart ... Not Half a Life - HLHS

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Medical Information

Antenatal Diagnosis

Normal Heart

Circulation before birth

Conditions and Treatments

Tricuspid Atresia

Pulmonary Atresia

Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome

- Commonly asked questions

- Possible treatments

Surgical Treatments

1 The Norwood Procedure

Modified Norwood Procedure

2 Cavo Pulmonary Connection

3 The Fontan Procedure

- Cardiac tests

- Heart failure

- Commonly used drugs

- Common terms

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Double Inlet Ventricle

Life with a Single Functioning
Ventricle Disorder

The Future

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Possible Treatments for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome

Having explained your child's diagnosis, the doctor will go on to discuss what treatments are available. None of these treatments provide a long-term cure.

It is vital that parents are fully included in the treatment discussions and decisions taken for their child.

These treatment options may include:

Surgical Treatment
The aim of this treatment is to re-route the blood through the right side of the heart, bypassing the blockages on the left side. This is known as a Norwood Procedure. This is offered in three stages over three or more years and involves extremely high-risk open-heart surgery. Your doctors will explain the risks for your child. Even after all the surgery has been performed your child's heart will not look normal or work normally, and it may be that it will gradually fail and your child may need a heart transplant in teenage years or early adult life.

Supported Comfort Care
As the long-term outcome is unclear for children with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, it is important to know that there is the option not to put a child forward for surgery. The baby is allowed to die peacefully either in the hospital or at home; the family would be fully supported by hospital and community nursing and medical staff.

Transplantation
Transplantation is offered in a few centres around the world. It involves replacing the malformed heart with a donated one. This is followed with treatments to prevent the child rejecting the donated heart. This again is a high-risk treatment and it still does not provide a cure. At present in Great Britain this would not be a commonly offered treatment as there are very few baby size hearts available.