Morphologic characteristics of aortic atresia: implications for fetal hemodynamics

We studied hearts with aortic atresia to determine the relationship between cardiac morphology and fetal cardiac blood flow. We compared measurements of aortic, pulmonary, and tricuspid valve circumference and right ventricular wall thickness among 37 hearts with aortic atresia and mitral hypoplasia, 14 hearts with aortic atresia together with mitral atresia and 24 normal hearts. Right ventricular free wall thickness and tricuspid and pulmonary valve annular circumferences were greater and aortic circumferences were smaller in hearts with aortic atresia than in normal hearts (P less than 0.05). Between the subgroups of aortic atresia, the aortic circumference was 5 +/- 1 mm in those with mitral atresia compared to 7 +/- 2 mm in association with mitral hypoplasia (P less than 0.05). The morphologic differences between the subgroups of aortic atresia are consistent with differences in fetal blood flow. Left heart blood flow was likely to be greater during development in those hearts with aortic atresia and mitral hypoplasia than in those with the combination of aortic and mitral atresia.