Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome Explained

Host: What's a Hypoplastic Left Heart?

Guest: Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome is a condition in which the so called left side structures, those are the structures that pump blood to the body, form inadequately, in other words, they are too small, not large enough to actually pump an adequate amount of blood to the body.

Host: And how is that handled?

Guest: In that situation, it's necessary to configure the heart, so that the other ventricle, the right side of ventricle which typically pumps blood to the body in a normal situation, will pump blood both to the lungs and the body. The classical name for the initial operation in that condition is the Norwood operation. It basically is an operation where the right ventricle is attached to the aorta which is the blood vessel that carries blood to the body through a fairly complex reconstruction of both the pulmonary artery and the aorta. This allows the right ventricle to be the pumping chamber to the body. In addition, a source of blood flow from the aorta or the heart itself to the ones that's created which provides the blood into the lungs.


Transcription by: Scribe4you Transcription Services