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From 1972 to September, 1979, 20 patients underwent transplantation of the anomalous left coronary artery to the aorta, either directly or via a graft. Correction of ischemia-induced mitral insufficiency was associated in eight patients and a postinfarction left ventricular scar was excised in 12. Operative mortality was high among patients under 1 year of age (4/5). Among older children it was 15%. There were no late deaths among patients surviving the operation (mean follow-up 3 years). All but one had marked clinical improvement and reduction of cardiomegaly. Eleven patients underwent angiographic control, with a patent graft or anastomosis demonstrated in every case. Operation is advocated for patients over 1 year of age. The best treatment for symptomatic infants remains controversial.

New techniques of correction of complex congenital anomalies, avoiding the use of prosthetic conduits, are presented. In transposition of the great arteries (TGA) with ventricular septal defect (VSD) and pulmonary stenosis, the technique comprised the resection of infundibular septum, the suturing of an intraventricular baffle directing blood from the left ventricle to the aorta, and the reconstruction of the pulmonary outflow tract by direct implantation of the posterior rim of the pulmonary arterial trunk on the right ventricle, completed by an anterior patch. In most cases, the pulmonary bifurcation was translated anterior to the ascending aorta. This technique was feasible even in infants and in patients with a small VSD. Thirteen patients, from 3 months to 8 years of age, were treated by this technique, with four deaths, one residual VSD (reoperated), and eight good results (4 to 16 months). A similar repair was used in three cases of double-outlet right ventricle (DORV) with subpulmonic VSD and pulmonary stenosis or pulmonary artery banding, with two operative deaths and one good result. The same technique of pulmonary outflow tract reconstruction was used in four cases of truncus arteriosus. Two deaths were attributed to severe pulmonary regurgitation, a complication which should be prevented in future cases by a reliable method of inserting a valve in the pulmonary outflow tract. In pulmonary atresia with VSD and absent pulmonary trunk, the continuity between the right ventricle and the pulmonary branches was established via an arterial tube resected from the ascending aorta. This technique was successfully used in one child with extremely small pulmonary branches. These preliminary results led us to conclude that many complex congenital cardiac anomalies can be effectively treated without a prosthetic conduit.