Interrupted aortic arch in infancy

Data from 30 infants with interrupted aortic arch in the New England Regional Infant Cardiac Program, 1968 to 1974, were reviewed. All patients had major associated cardiac abnormalities: approximately one third had ventricular septal defect with patent ductus arteriosus, one third had complex ventricular septal defect with left ventricular outflow obstruction, and one third had complex intracardiac lesions incompatible with survival. Twenty-one of the patients had either palliative or reconstructive surgery, with a hospital mortality rate of 76%. Nine patients did not have surgery; eight of them died at a median age of four days. One-stage primary repair of interrupted aortic arch including the associated cardiac defects, using deep hypothermia and circulatory arrest, is proposed as the current method of treatment in such infants.