[The hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Initiation of a therapeutic program]

The hypoplastic left heart syndrome is a very severe congenital heart disease dependent on patency of ductus arteriosus in the newborn. The survival after neonatal period, without surgical treatment, is exceptional. Nowadays, there are basically two types of therapeutic procedures: Palliation with the Norwood operation and/or cardiac transplantation. Both methods have showed advantages and disadvantages; at present, there is not consensus of them. In our hospital, we have recently begun a medical-surgical therapeutic program for the management of neonates with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Because of this, we report our little experience. We have treated three children in the last year: The first of them dead in the operating room; the second was exitus due to a sepsis two months after surgery, and the third, who is three-month-old now, remained well and was discharged to home.