Technique of transplantation for hypoplastic left heart syndrome with left superior vena cava.

The presence of a left superior vena cava in infants with hypoplastic left heart syndrome complicates the technical performance of orthotopic cardiac transplantation. In this report we describe a modification of the recipient cardiectomy to maintain patency of the left superior vena cava, leaving the recipient coronary sinus as a conduit for it into the right atrium and avoiding complex venous reconstructions.