This defect isn't correctable, but some babies can be treated with a series of operations or with a heart transplant. The diagnosis is made first after symptoms that develop in newborn babies including rapid breathing, difficulty feeding, poor color, and mottled skin. These are symptoms that are similar to other serious disorders in babies such as serious infections. In addition, there are subtle features on the physical examination that suggest there is an underlying heart defect, but there may not be any abnormal heart murmurs. The diagnosis is confirmed with an echocardiogram.
Heart transplantation is a treatment option, but donor organs for infants are hard to come by.
Therefore, surgery more commonly involves a series of operations other than a heart transplant. The first stage, called the Norwood procedure , allows the right ventricle to pump blood to the body. It consists of connecting the main pulmonary artery and tiny aorta together and enlarging any areas that are small. Because the main pulmonary artery is disconnected from the right and left pulmonary arteries, a BT shunt needs to be placed to supply blood flow to the pulmonary arteries. In addition the hole between the left and right atrium is enlarged so that blood returning from the lungs can get to the right atrium without obstruction.