Complete Transposition of the Great Vessels: Importance of Septal Defects and Patent Ductus Arteriosus

Abstract

In 1,145 autopsies performed on children with congenital heart disease who died before the age of 4, 180 were found to have a completely transposed aorta and pulmonary artery. Of these, 35 were excluded from the analysis because of other severe congenital cardiac malformations (among which were six with pulmonary stenosis); 11 who died from noncardiac disorders and two mongoloid idiots were also excluded. The remaining 132 were analyzed with reference to the relationship between the time of death and the presence of veno-arterial communications. Fortytwo per cent of the children died within 1 month and 73 per cent within the first 3 months of life. Therefore, diagnostic and therapeutic problems chiefly arise during the first months of life in patients with complete transposition of the great vessels.