Surgery of Conotruncal Anomalies

This book addresses the most technically demanding but life-changing techniques in the treatment of conotruncal heart defects, as many repairs are performed on small infants. Each chapter reviews surgical anatomy (the anatomical classification that the surgeon is using), preoperative evaluation (the surgeon’s check list before doing the surgery), and surgical techniques (clear drawings and videos, minimal text). It is an essential reference book for newly qualified surgeons when performing these complex cases. Conotruncal heart defects (CTHDs) are a group of complex congenital anomalies of the cardiovascular system that are a major cause of symptomatic cardiac disease at birth. They may account for up to 30% of all congenital cardiac anomalies. In many instances, patients with CTHD are symptomatic in the first days or weeks of life, with severe cyanosis or heart failure, requiring surgery in the neonatal period or in infancy. Most CHTD are today diagnosed in utero by fetal ultrasound. CHTDs are usually defined as malformations of the cardiac outflow tracts and presumably result in disturbance in the development of the cono-truncal apparatus of the embryonic heart, as well as of the primitive aortic arches. CTHDs include the following: truncus arteriosus, tetralogy of Fallot, double outlet right (or left) ventricle, transposition of the arteries, corrected transposition of the great arteries, interrupted aortic arch. The outcomes of CHTD surgery has considerably improved in the past 20 years, with quite fascinating innovations.