ABNORMAL COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE AORTA AND LEFT VENTRICLE; AORTICO-LEFT VENTRICULAR TUNNEL

• Published in: Circulation (New York, N.Y.) Vol. 31; no. 4; pp. 564 - 571
• Main Authors: COOLEY, R N, HARRIS, L C, RODIN, A E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.04.1965
• Subjects: Aorta; Aortic Aneurysm; Aortic Diseases; Aortic Valve Stenosis; Cardiac Catheterization; Electrocardiography; Heart Aneurysm; Heart Defects, Congenital; Heart Ventricles; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Old Medline; Pathology; Phonocardiography; HEART ANEURYSM; ELECTROCARDIOGRAPHY; AORTIC DISEASES; HEART DEFECTS, CONGENITAL; AORTIC ANEURYSM; PHONOCARDIOGRAPHY; INFANT; PATHOLOGY; HEART CATHETERIZATION; AORTIC VALVE STENOSIS; INFANT, NEWBORN
• ISSN: 0009-7322; 1524-4539
• DOI: 10.1161/01.CIR.31.4.564

A case is presented of a 16-month-old white boy with a communication or tunnel between the right sinus of Valsalva and the outflow tract of the left ventricle. The presence of a murmur at birth and the subsequent clinical course suggest that the tunnel was congenital. The physical, electrocardiographic, phonocardiographic, and aortographic findings were quite similar to those of "aortico-left ventricular tunnel" as described by Levy et al. 1 The tunnel was occluded surgically, but failure to appreciate the presence of severe aortic stenosis contributed to a fatal outcome. Postmortem study was carried out, and the relationship of the findings of aortico-left ventricular tunnel to aneurysm of the sinuses of Valsalva and the Marfan syndrome is briefly discussed.