[Total abnormal pulmonary venous return surgically treated in an adult]

The authors report a case of total anomalous pulmonary venous return (TAPVR) draining into the innominate (brachiocephalic) vein, discovered in a 40-year old male patient and successfully treated by surgery. This type of cardiopathy is usually suspected in the neonatal period, being badly tolerated, and such a prolonged survival is quite exceptional. Survival is conditioned by the site of the TAPVR, by the size of the atrial septal defect and also by the presence or absence of an obstacle to the pulmonary venous return and of pulmonary arterial hypertension. In the absence of pulmonary vascular disease, surgical correction is mandatory and results in regression of the symptoms and of the pulmonary arterial hypertension.