Syndrome of hypoplasic left ventricle, Description of a clinical case with survival after carrying out of Norwood technique

A clinical case of a 72 hours newborn patient admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit for reduced cardiac output syndrome showing anuria, metabolic acidosis and respiratory distress, is reported. Mechanical ventilation, inotropic support and continuous prostaglandin e1 infusion were initiated. The echocardiogram showed hypoplasia of the left ventricle. The Norwood procedure stage i under extracorporeal circulation with deep hypothermia and circulatory arrest, was performed at the 6th day of life. During the early postoperative period, the patient developed hypoxaemia and pulmonary hypertension, which improved with controlled hyperventilation and vasodilatation therapy. Other complications were clinical sepsis and abstinence syndrome, which resolved with medical management. The patient was extubated on the sixth postoperative day. Subsequent echocardiograms showed tricuspid valve regurgitation, right ventricular dysfunction with dilation and an organized thrombus in the left atrium. These improved with diuretics, dopamine, milrinone and heparin. The patient was discharged after 32 days of the surgery without signs of congestive heart failure. This case is important, given the high mortality rate of this pathology. The Norwood procedure proved to be a palliative strategy versus the ortotopic cardiac transplant in newborns, because of the difficulty in finding donators at this age and the immunosuppressive therapy complications. This represents a great advance in the Colombian pediatric cardiology because until recent years these patients did not have any other surgical alternative