Transposition of great artéries, survival chances
Hello everyone! I’m from Brazil, from a region with good access to medical and scientific resources. I’m a first-time father of a little boy who was born with transposition of the great arteries (TGA) associated with interrupted aortic arch type B.
We discovered the severity of his heart condition during the fetal echocardiogram, and that was probably the most desperate moment of my life.
Our son had his first surgery at 6 days old: the arterial switch operation (Jatene procedure) along with reconstruction of the aortic arch. He spent 10 days in the ICU and another 4 days in the hospital ward. When we finally came home, his echocardiogram looked excellent and everything suggested the surgery had been a success.
However, at 6 months old, we repeated the echo and found a gradient of 90 mmHg. He had developed a significant neopulmonary stenosis and we had to go through another surgery. The procedure was complex because of an intramural coronary artery, and during the postoperative period he also developed necrotizing enterocolitis.
Those months were extremely difficult — constant fear, helplessness, and uncertainty.
Today he is 2 years old. His echocardiograms are currently stable. At the moment he has a maximum gradient of 24 mmHg in the neopulmonary artery, mild to moderate neo-pulmonary valve regurgitation, no signs of aortic arch obstruction, intact septa, and preserved cardiac function. The right ventricle shows only mild hypertrophy, with normal systolic function.
I really want to believe he has good long-term chances, but I still feel very afraid about the future. I would like to know if anyone here knows similar cases — children or adults who went through something like this. Did they need further interventions later in life? Are there adults who survived and are living well after a similar condition?