Left atrial--left ventricular conduit for relief of congenital mitral stenosis in infancy.

Severe congenital mitral stenosis in the infant poses a difficult problem. We present the case history of an infant in whom a left atrial--left ventricular apical conduit was used to bypass a severely hypoplastic mitral valve. Associated coarctation of the aorta, patent ductus arteriosus, and ventricular septal defect were corrected at the same time. This method of circumventing the mitral valve offers a new approach to the relief of congenital mitral hypoplasia in small infants.