[Double total anomalous pulmonary venous connection]

We present a newborn infant with right atrial isomerism, complex congenital heart malformation and anomalous pulmonary venous connection, reliably diagnosed by 2-D Doppler color echocardiography. The infant had no significant obstetric antecedents. The neonatal clinical picture included cyanosis, heart murmur and respiratory distress. The infant was treated with prostaglandin from the age of 24 hours until his death after surgery. The 2-D echo Doppler color flow mapping showed findings that suggested right atrial isomerism, severe left ventricular hypoplasia, pulmonary atresia and ductus arteriosus. The pulmonary veins flowed together to a posterior cardiac chamber from which an emissary vertical venous vessel connected with a left superior aneurysmal sack. Two venous channels emerged from this sack: one connecting to the innominate vein and the other to the atrium. The malformations were confirmed by cardiac catheterization. On the sixth day of life, the patient underwent anastomosis between the posterior venous chamber with the atrium, a modified Blalock-Taussig shunt implant, and ductus closure but died during surgery. The association between complex cardiac anomalies and uncommon obstructive total anomalous pulmonary venous connection in the context of right atrial isomerism is lethal and few neonates survive surgical repair. Two-dimensional echo color flow Doppler is a reliable diagnostic technique and an indispensable guide in angiography.