In hypoplastic left heart syndrome, the left ventricle is of insufficient size to support needed cardiac output. This condition often appears in patients with a very small aorta, and until fairly recently it was seen as a condition with a very poor prognosis and no surgical options. However, over the last several decades, surgical advancements including the “Norwood procedure” and heart transplants in infants have become the standard of care in these patients. The first part of the Norwood procedure is typically performed in the first week of a baby’s life to combine the pulmonary and aortic arteries and enable the right ventricle to become the pumping mechanism that will supply the entire body. Two additional stages of the surgery are performed by the time the infant turns three or four years old.
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