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The original Senning technique of interatrial transposition of venous return was selectively employed for physiological correction in 24 patients with transposition of the great arteries (TGA) ranging in age from 74 days to 26 months (median 7 months). Twenty-three had intact ventricular septum and one had a large ventricular septal defect and diaphragmatic subpulmonary stenosis. There were no hospital or late deaths, and at follow-up examination 1.5 to 12 months postoperatively, each patient was asymptomatic, in normal sinus rhythm, and had no clinical evidence of caval or pulmonary venous obstruction. Nine patients underwent cardiac catheterization and angiocardiographic studies between 1.3 and 9 months postoperatively which demonstrated widely patent venous pathways and effective "left" and "right" atrial contraction. This experience lends support to the continued use of the Senning technique for interatrial transposition of venous return.

80% of patients with Truncus arteriosus died in the first year of life by cardiac insufficiency from left to right shunt, high level of pulmonary vascular disease, truncal valve insufficiency. The palliative procedure, banding of the pulmonary arteries, is technically difficult, with high hospital mortality (50%) and increases the risk of the second stage repair (70%). Eight infants (1 to 9 months) have been corrected with 3 operative deaths and two late deaths. Three patients are doing well 12, 12 and 36 months post-operatively. Two technical problems are of concern: 1: The size of the valved extracardiac conduit comparing with the size of the infants thorax and the long term follow-up of such conduit. 2: The management of the truncal valve insufficiency: no plasty or replacement have be done, but in three cases of truncal insufficiency one pericardial patch has been used to double the VSD's dacron patch to avoid hemolysis. The one-stage repair of truncus arteriosus in infancy is one acceptable approach.

Twenty patients with atrio-ventricular canal malformations (5 complete and 15 partial forms) were operated upon during the last two years, using new surgical techniques. The repair of the complete form based on a three-leaflet three-commissure mitral valve concept, was accomplished by: a) Two separate partitioning patches (one ventricular, one atrial), b) mitral and tricuspid valve attachment in between, c) no cleft sutures, d) correction of subvalvular apparatus abnormalities, e) commissuroplasty. The repair of the partial form was obtained by: a) Valvular and subvalvular repair of the lesions when present, b) patch closure of the ostium primum defect suturing on the tricuspid side. All patients survived operation and exhibited normal sinus rhythm. Residual mitral incompetence proved to be less frequent as compared to previous techniques.

Fifty-six patients with tricuspid atresia and decreased pulmonary blood flow received a systemic-to-pulmonary artery anastomosis as a preliminary operation. Thirty-five had a Waterston shunt, 12 a Blalock-Taussig anastomosis, and nine various other procedures. The age at operation ranged from 2 days to 10 years (median 4.5 months). Pulmonary atresia was present in eight newborn infants. Four patients (7%), all less than 3 months old, died in hospital from persistent servere hypoxia despite the palliative procedure. By actuarial methods, 93% of the survivors were alive at and after one year (longest follow-up:9.8 years), while 83% had not required further palliation at and after four years from the first operation. None of the patients subsequently restudied had raised pulmonary pressure or resistances, and in most of them the pulmonary arterial tree was deemed adequate for the Fontan operation.

Fourteen patients younger than two years of age with persistent truncus arteriosus underwent primary repair. Twelve of them were less than 1 year and 4 less than 3 months of age. Intractable heart failure was the indication for surgery in all patients but one who had increased pulmonary vascular resistance. There were 5 hospital and 2 late deaths. Six out of the 7 survivors (median follow-up: 29 months) were symptom-free. The remaining infant who preoperatively had significant truncal valve regurgitation was doing fairly well 2 1/2 years after repair. Our experience suggests that, although the mortality remains high, primary repair for infants with persistent truncus arteriosus is feasible and offers better overall results than does pulmonary artery banding followed by later intracardiac repair. We advise primary repair for all infants with intractable heart failure or increasing pulmonary vascular resistance with or without truncal valve regurgitation. Elective repair is recommended before the age of 2 years to minimize the risk of pulmonary vascular disease.

Sixty-three corrective operations have been performed in patients with Tetralogy of Fallot and a previously constructed Waterston shunt. The patients were from 1.4 to 8 years of age (median 4.3 years), and the mean interval between the Waterston shunt and the repair was 39.3 +/- 16.05 months. Three patients developed pulmonary atresia and six required a second anastomosis prior to intracardiac repair. Kinking and stenosis of the right pulmonary artery at the site of the Waterston anastomosis occurred in 12 (19 percent; 70 percent confidence limits 14 to 26 percent) patients who required patch enlargement of the right pulmonary artery at repair. Seven (11 percent; 70 percent confidence limits 7 to 17 percent) patients died in the hospital and three (5 percent; 70 percent confidence limits 2 to 11 percent) during the period of late follow-up. None of the early or late deaths was specifically related to the presence of the previously performed Waterston anastomosis.

Intracardiac repair of a variety of cardiac anomalies was performed in 104 infants aged 10 days to 6 mo, presenting with severe hypoxia and/or intractable heart failure. Thirty-eight patients (33 less than three mo of age) did not survive the operation or died during the first postoperative month. Above 6 mo of age, correction of heart defects is often carried out on an elective basis, and results are more favorable. A more convenient choice between corrective and palliative procedures is suggested to achieve better results in the difficult group of patients who require surgery within the first 6 mo of life.