Clinical and pathoanatomical characteristics of hypoplastic left heart syndrome a clinical case

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) is a common congenital heart defect, accounting for 4 to 16% of cases, and is one of the most prognostically unfavorable, involving single-ventricle hemodynamics. HLHS involves hypoplasia of the left ventricle, often in combination with atresia and/or stenosis of the aortic and/or mitral valves, as well as hypoplasia of various parts of the aorta. Intrauterine reduction in blood flow to the left heart structures at early stages of fetal development subsequently leads to severe changes in cardiac structures, often not amenable to surgical correction.