A different approach for the total correction of tricuspid atresia.

A new surgical procedure has been used successfully to correct tricuspid atresia in a 9-year-old girl. An external conduit containing a porcine aortic valve was positioned to lead from the right atrium to the underdeveloped right ventricle. The right ventricle was reconstructed with a large Dacron patch, thus providing a large cavity for the small hypoplastic right ventricle. The atrial and ventricular septal defects were closed. The patient made a satisfactory recovery and is doing well four months after the operation.