Double Outlet Right Ventricle

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When a child has double outlet right ventricle, both the pulmonary artery and the aorta are connected to the right ventricle. This defect is almost always accompanied by a ventricular septal defect (a hole between the lower two chambers of the heart or the left and right ventricles).

Surgical correction:  Involves construction of a tunnel-like patch of material to baffle or tunnel the blood from the left ventricle to the abnormally positioned aorta.  Sometimes a valved conduit (tube containing a valve) must be used to then connect the right ventricle to the pulmonary arteries, if the pulmonary valve is abnormal or cannot be saved during the construction of the tunnel within the ventricle.  The further distance the ventricle septal defect is from the aorta, the more difficult the operation.