Use of 3-Dimensional Printing to Demonstrate Complex Intracardiac Relationships in Double-Outlet Right Ventricle for Surgical Planning

Double-outlet right ventricle falls under the category of congenital heart disease known as conotruncal defects, which possess abnormal ventriculoarterial relationships.1 For complex cases, the surgeon must determine whether the left ventricle and one of the great arteries can be aligned using the ventricular septal defect to construct an unobstructed pathway or baffle, resulting in a 2-ventricle repair.2 Creation of the baffle can be complicated by anatomic obstructions because of prominent conal septum, straddling atrioventricular valve attachments, or location of the ventricular septal defect in the inlet septum, remote from any great artery. Three-dimensional (3D) printing has been applied in the management of many different congenital heart diseases.3 In this specific patient population, in whom communicating the complex intracardiac anatomy to the surgeon is so critical, the use of 3D modeling and printing is invaluable. We used this approach in a patient with dextrocardia, complex double-outlet right ventricle (S,L,A)1 and supratricuspid ring. She underwent pulmonary artery banding in infancy and had been doing relatively well clinically; so that any further surgical intervention was deferred until she was 8 years old. Although she was growing well and required no medication, …