We report on 15 patients with velo-cardio-facial syndrome who had a severe form of tetralogy of Fallot (pulmonary atresia, ventricular septal defect, and hypoplastic pulmonary arteries). Noncardiac anomalies in these patients included typical facial and ear anomalies in 15, nasal speech in 13, palate anomalies in 10, and developmental delay in 10. Seven patients had significant bronchospasm, which has not been reported in association with the velo-cardio-facial syndrome.
All 15 patients had severe abnormalities of the arborization of the pulmonary arterial tree, which also has not been reported in velo-cardio-facial syndrome. All patients underwent staging operations to prepare the true pulmonary vascular tree for complete repair of the defect (five underwent complete repair and three survived). Of the remaining 10 patients, 6 are awaiting further operation, 3 are not candidates for complete repair, and 1 has died.
Coronary artery to pulmonary artery communications in pulmonary atresia with ventricular septal defect
