[Surgical treatment of congenital interruption and hypoplasia of the aortic arch].

Three patients with interruption and seven with hypoplasia of the aortic arch were treated surgically. The subclavian artery and the aortic isthmus were employed for reconstructing the aortic arch in five, and a Dacron prosthesis was used to restore the aortic continuity in five. A ductus arteriosus coexisted in all patients and a ventricular or atrial septal defect in nine. Congestive heart failure and pulmonary hypertension were prominent clinical features, and the role of the ductus and other intracardiac anomalies on their pathogenesis in discussed. Six patients, one with an interrupted and five with a hypoplastic arch survived but three have evidence of either pulmonary vascular disease or significant pulmonary hypertension. Only one patient with hypoplasia of the arch is now considered cured after his ventricular septal defect was closed in a second operation. The analysis of this and other series in the literature indicate a high mortality rate of the conditions; however, early surgical treatment, which is the only effective means to control heart failure and avoid the effects of prolonged pulmonary hypertension, has brought upon a decline in mortality in recent years.