Aortic Origin of the Right Pulmonary Artery

Abstract

ince the original description of this anomaly by Fraentzel in 1868 [5], few cases of aortic origin of the right pulmonary artery have S been reported. Caro, Lermanda, and Lyons [2] attempted the first total surgical correction of this defect in 1957. The first successful total correction was performed by Armer, Shumacker, and Klatte [l] in 1961. In 1965, Redo et al. [8] reviewed 14 cases of this anomaly collected from the literature and reported the second successful total surgical correction. Winship, Beck, and Schrire [ 141 recently reported an unsuccessful attempt at total surgical correction utilizing cardiopulmonary bypass for anastomosis of the right pulmonary artery to the main pulmonary trunk. Other means of surgical management have consisted of ligation of an associated patent ductus arteriosus [4, 113 and ligation of the right pulmonary artery in addition to ligation of the patent ductus arteriosus [7, 10, 121. All of these patients died postoperatively. In three of the four attempts at total surgical correction [l, 2, 81, repair was performed by interposition of a prosthetic graft anterior to the aorta between the end of the right pulmonary artery and the side of the main pulmonary trunk. We have recently operated upon a patient with this anomaly and employed a different technique.