The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 44, 536-538, Copyright © 1987 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Aortic origin of right pulmonary artery: successful surgical correction in three consecutive patients
SA Nashef, MP Jamieson, JC Pollock and AB Houston
Department of Cardiac Surgery, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Yorkhill, Glasgow, Scotland.
Over a period of four years (1981 through 1984), 3 infants with aortic
origin of the right pulmonary artery were seen in our surgical unit. Two
infants had a persistent ductus arteriosus, which arose from the left
subclavian artery in 1 of them who also had a right-sided aortic arch.
There were no other associated abnormalities. Preoperative diagnosis was
established by echocardiography in 2 infants. Anatomical surgical
correction was undertaken in all 3 infants under cardiopulmonary bypass.
There were no operative deaths. One child required reoperation at 15 months
for anastomotic stenosis. All 3 children were well two to five years
postoperatively with scintillographic evidence of normal ventilation and
perfusion. Our experience indicates that this rare but severe congenital
cardiac anomaly is easily diagnosed by echocardiography, and confirms that
it is eminently amenable to surgical correction.