Prevalence of bilateral patent ductus arteriosus in patients with pulmonic valve atresia and asplenia syndrome

In patients with congenital pulmonic valve atresia the bilateral patent ductus arteriosus is one of the rarest patterns of blood supply to the lungs.^1-3 Freedom et al⁴ described 15 cases of bilateral patent ductus arteriosus in patients with pulmonic valve atresia: in 9 cases there was a pulmonic valve atresia with ventricular septal defect, in 1 a pulmonic valve atresia in a setting of "complex congenital heart disease with situs solitus" and in 5 patients the pulmonic valve atresia was associated with atrial isomerism. A further case was recently reported in association with pulmonic valve atresia and intact ventricular septum,⁵ but there are no published reports of a systematic study of the association of bilateral patent ductus arteriosus with various forms of pulmonic valve atresia.