[Hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Present experiences and future possibilities].

The authors report experiences from Norwood's staged palliation for hypoplastic left heart syndrome performed in Philadelphia on Norwegian children. Although there is no universal agreement that these children should be operated at all, the Norwegian health authorities have decided that all expenses for transport, examination and treatment shall be covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme. Since 1987 a total of 21 children have been transported to USA for operation. Eight of these children have completed all the planned stages of the operative treatment. Two are waiting for stage 3. 11 children have died. The authors discuss how to proceed with regard to treatment of this complicated patient group in future.