A case of truncus arteriosus type II.

A case of truncus arteriosus type II is reported. Truncus arterious is an uncommon congenital cardiac defect where a single great vessel exits the heart. Truncus arteriosus is usually fatal, if untreated. This defect occurs when the conus arteriosus and the truncus divide erroneously in the embryo. Palliative surgery in truncus arteriosus has been unsuccessful. Pulmonary banding has been tried and was ineffective and usually fatal. We operated on a nine-month-old (6200 g) male infant with a type II (Edwards-Collett) defect and a large ventricular septal defect. The pulmonary artery average pressure was 51 mmHg. We performed a cardiopulmonary bypass in the usual manner. Pulmonary arteries were resected from the truncal root, and primary end-to-end anastomosis of the truncal root to the ascending aorta was performed. Right ventricle to pulmonary artery continuity was provided using a valveless Gore-Tex graft. We lost our patient due to intractable pulmonary hypertension on the first postoperative day.