Norwood Procedure

The Norwood procedure is an operation that is performed on newborns who are diagnosed with a heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome. It is the first stage of a three-part treatment called staged palliation, where additional surgeries are needed at six months of age and again at around 2 years of age. Specifically in the Norwood procedure, the surgeon’s goal is to convert the right ventricle into the main ventricle that supplies blood to the body. He or she accomplishes this by connecting the aorta with the main pulmonary artery while severing the connections between the main artery and the two arteries that would normally supply blood to the lungs. A special shunt called a Blalock-Taussig shunt is used to allow blood to flow to the lungs from the aorta and pulmonary arteries.