[Management of tricuspid atresia in neonates. Report of three cases and review of literature]. / Manuseio da atresia tricúspide em neonatos. Relato de três casos e revisão da literatura.

The present article describes the management of three neonates with tricuspid atresia and duct dependent pulmonary circulation referred to the Instituto de Coração de Pernambuco in November 1992. A brief literature review of the condition is added. Full diagnosis was established with echocardiography at the neonatal ICU; all of them were intubated, mechanically ventilated and started on PGE1 and Dopamine infusions. Within 10h to 24h of hospitalization, all were submitted to surgery. One patient died on the third postoperative day the other two were discharged in good clinical condition. Despite the small our experience shows that clinical and surgical management of tricuspid atresia with duct dependent pulmonary circulation can reach satisfactory results in our region providing that early diagnosis of cyanotic heart disease is established by the pediatrician with timely transferal of the neonate to a reference center in paediatric cardiology.

[Atrial septostomy at the intensive care unit under echocardiographic monitoring. Initial experience of the Heart Institute of Pernambuco]. / Atrioseptostomia em unidade de terapia intensiva sob monitorização ecocardiográfica. Experiência inicial do Instituto do Coração de Pernambuco.

The present article describes the initial experience of the Instituto do Coração de Pernambuco, at the neonatal intensive care unit, with the performance of Rashkind atrioseptostomy under two-dimensional echocardiographic control, through percutaneous venous approach (right femoral vein catheterization), under local anaesthesia, in three cases, two neonates with transposition of the great arteries and one with tricuspid atresia. In two children the procedure was successful both technically and haemodynamically. In the third child, aged 36 days, the atrial septum was thickened not allowing for satisfactory withdraw. In none of the three cases significant complications were observed during the procedure. Despite of the small number of patients, our experience showed that this new approach to the performance of Rashkind atrioseptostomy is feasible without major complications to the neonate and with advantages over the conventional technique.