Congenital absence of ductus arteriosus--an autopsy case.

Isolated absence of the ductus arteriosus is extremely rare condition although the ductus arteriosus may be hypoplastic or aplastic in association with other aortic arch anomalies. Authors described a case of isolated agenesis of the ductus arteriosus documented by postmortem examination of a newborn infant who died of pneumonia following operation for a large omphalocele. The heart showed ventricular septal defect. However, no other cardiovascular anomalies were associated in this case. There were three vessels that were taking off from the aorta consisted of the right brachiocephalic artery, left common carotid-artery and left subclavian artery. The anteriorly located pulmonary artery was divided into the right and left pulmonary arteries. There was no connection of vessel between the pulmonary artery and the aorta.