ABSTRACT
Anatomy Pulmonary atresia can be an isolated defect with an intact ventricular septum, maybe associated with a ventricular septal defect, or it can be part of a more complex congenital heart defect. The latter is usually palliated surgically, but the first two may be amenable to intervention for palliation or as definitive treatment.1-5
Pulmonary atresia with a ventricular septal defect may be palliated by intervention if there are native pulmonary arteries which are confluent and linked to a well developed main pulmonary artery and if the infundibulum is also well developed. In general, however, the atresia in this situation is muscular with a long distance between the right ventricle and pulmonary artery and hence surgical palliation is more commonplace.
