Congenital heart disease resulting in defects of the heart and circulatory system affects more infants than any other type of birth defect and occurs in approximately 1 of every 115 children born.1,2 The defects range from mild to severe, and nearly half of the affected infants require intervention within the first year of life.2 Great strides have been made in the surgical correction and palliation of congenital heart defects since open heart repairs for infants and children first became possible in the 1950s. For children with the most complex heart defects, this success has been very recent.

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) is the fourth most common congenital cardiac defect and the most common form of congenital heart disease that results in a functional single ventricle. HLHS is a constellation of cardiac abnormalities that includes severe stenosis or complete atresia of both the left ventricular inflow and...

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