Atresia of left atrioventricular connection. Surgical considerations.

We have studied 17 patients diagnosed in life as having absent left atrioventricular connection (14 patients) or an imperforate left atrioventricular valve (three patients). Ten patients presented below the age of 3 months with tachypnoea, mild cyanosis, and heart failure. Seven patients, including two with moderate and one with severe pulmonary outflow tract obstruction, presented at a mean age of 45 months (range six months to 16 years). Six patients had a non-restrictive interatrial communication when first catheterised. In the remainder the mean interatrial gradient was 14 mmHg. Excluding patients with pulmonary outflow tract obstruction the