Common arterial trunk with pulmonary atresia

We describe a congenitally malformed heart with usual atrial arrangement and concordant atrioventricular connexions in which a solitary arterial trunk left the base of the heart and supplied the coronary and systemic arteries. Pulmonary blood supply was derived from systemic to pulmonary collateral arteries but, in addition, hypoplastic intrapericardial pulmonary arteries were found in each lung hilum. The two sets of hilar arteries were discontinuous, but it seemed likely that this discontinuity had been artefactually produced by prior dissection. Irrespective of this matter, the left pulmonary arteries were connected by a thread-like atretic cord to the left-sided sinus of the solitary arterial trunk. This indicates that, initially, there had been a common trunk which now demonstrates pulmonary atresia. The significance of this lesion is discussed in the light of the nomenclature and description of hearts with common arterial trunk.