Interruption of the aortic arch associated with patent ductus arteriosus and ventricular septal defect. Proposal of a new surgical technique for total correction.

A four-year-old girl underwent complete correction of the association of interruption of the aortic arch (Type A, Celoria and Patton's classification), patent ductus arteriosus, and ventricular septal defect. The surgical procedure consists of establishment of a continuity between the ascending and descending aortas utilizing the patent ductus arteriosus and the anterior wall of the pulmonary arterial trunk, reconstruction of the rest of pulmonary arterial trunk with pericardium, and closure of the ventricular septal defect. Though the patient expired from cerebral complications, the hemodynamic result after repair was quite satisfactory. The procedure described makes total correction of this complex anomaly feasible at one operation through a median sternotomy and seems to be a method of choice for most patients with this association of anomalies, unless there is severe narrowing of the patent ductus arteriosus.