[Congenital ventricular diverticulum in a neonate: anesthetic considerations]

Congenital diverticulum of the ventricle is a rare cardiac malformation and the reports of its surgical repair are scarce. We experienced anesthesia for a neonate with an isolated congenital left ventricular diverticulum diagnosed in utero. A male infant presented with ventricular arrhythmias and congestive heart failure. At 9 days of life the resection of the diverticulum was performed under moderately hypothermic cardio-pulmonary bypass (CPB) Major anesthetic considerations include the possible life-threatening arrhythmias, cardiac failure due to diverticulum and cardiac dysfunction after resection. Premature ventricular contractions were noted before CPB but greatly decreased under anesthesia. The operation was performed safely and arrhythmias disappeared completely after resection. Intra- and post-operative course was uneventful without any sign of cardiac dysfunction.