Severe feeding difficulty in infants with increased pulmonary blood flow

Three infants with significant left-to-right intracardiac shunts and moderate cardiac disability failed to thrive primarily because of a complete distaste for food. They refused to feed, spat out food introduced into their mouths, and vomited food that reached their stomachs. These severe feeding difficulties were relieved by intracardiac repair, and we conclude that in some unusual instances such feeding disorders constitute the indication for operation.