If you and your child's doctor agree that surgery should be performed, it will be done in several stages. The first stage, referred to as the Norwood procedure, allows the right ventricle to pump blood to both the lungs and the body. It must be performed soon after birth. These operations create a connection between the veins returning blue blood to the heart and the pulmonary artery. The overall goal of the operation is to allow the right ventricle to pump only oxygenated blood to the body and to prevent or reduce mixing of the red and blue blood.
Some infants require several intermediate operations to achieve the final goal.
Some doctors will recommend heart transplantation to treat this problem. Although it does provide the infant with a heart that has normal structure, the infant will require life-long medications to prevent rejection. Many other transplant-related problems can develop, and these should be discussed with your doctor. Children with hypoplastic left heart syndrome require lifelong follow-up by a cardiologist for repeated checks of how their heart is working. Virtually all the children will require heart medicines.