Aortopulmonary window (APW) refers to a
congenital heart defect
A congenital heart defect (CHD), also known as a congenital heart anomaly and congenital heart disease, is a defect in the structure of the heart or great vessels that is present at birth. A congenital heart defect is classed as a cardiovascular ...
similar in some ways to
persistent truncus arteriosus
Persistent truncus arteriosus (PTA), often referred to simply as truncus arteriosus, is a rare form of congenital heart disease that presents at birth. In this condition, the embryological structure known as the truncus arteriosus fails to prop ...
.
Persistent truncus arteriosus involves a single valve; aortopulmonary window is a
septal defect
A congenital heart defect (CHD), also known as a congenital heart anomaly and congenital heart disease, is a defect in the structure of the heart or great vessels that is present at birth. A congenital heart defect is classed as a cardiovascular ...
.
A large number of patients with a large APW usually die within 1 year of age. It is extremely rare to find cases of APW surviving till adult age and it is still rare to surgically treat such patients who are incidentally detected in adult age because such subsets of patients invariably have associated pulmonary vascular obstructive disease in advanced stage and thus there is therapeutic dilemma to surgically correct these patients.
Although cases of uncorrected APW presenting in adulthood have been reported but literature on surgically treated AP window in adult populations is limited. A rare case of successful surgical management of an incidentally detected large APW with reversible
pulmonary arterial hypertension has been reported as isolated case reports.
See also
*
Aortic window
*
Major aortopulmonary collateral artery, develops when native pulmonary circulation is underdeveloped
References
External links
Radiology
Congenital heart defects
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