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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Surgical Treatments for Right Sided Single Ventricle Conditions

It is often difficult to predict which early procedure will be most helpful in supporting a newborn baby with a complex Right-Sided Single Ventricle Condition.
Some children are born with too much blood flowing to their lungs, others with not enough. In some conditions it is not until after birth that the doctors are able to decide exactly which of the following procedures will be needed by each child.

Shunts

Many single ventricle conditions cause a restriction of the blood supply to the lungs. As it is essential that blood flows to the lungs to collect oxygen for the body, connections must be created to re-route blood around any blockages within the heart. Surgeons will insert tubes made of either donated heart tissue or Gore-Tex (a specialised plastic) to form connections from the body circulation to the lung circulation. This treatment is often used within the first few weeks of life, as it is a simple solution to the circulation problem. Further more complex surgery will be done as the child grows.

Banding

Some children are born with a circulation that causes too much blood flow to the lungs. If the lungs are left with too high a flow, over time, it can damage the lung blood vessels. To prevent this damage occurring a band is placed around the base of the lung artery (Pulmonary Artery). This is usually removed at a later stage of surgery.

Septostomy or Septectomy
Many of the children are born with valves that are malformed so that they block the flow of blood around the heart. It is important to divert blood around the blockages by creating extra channels within the heart. Doctors may choose to create a hole between the two collecting chambers (Atria) of the heart either during a cardiac catheterisation or during surgery.

Septectomy is the surgical procedure.
Septostomy is the cardiac catheterisation procedure.
See Cardiac Tests.