Life-saving urgent intervention in a low-birth-weight newborn with obstructed supracardiac total anomalous pulmonary venous connection: Stenting the vertical vein

In total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC), pulmonary venous blood flow abnormally returns to join the systemic venous tributary or right atrium, and the pulmonary vascular resistance may be elevated if a form of obstruction occurs in this circuit (1). Neonates and infants with obstructed TAPVC can present with severe cyanosis, pulmonary hypertension, and low cardiac output, requiring emergency surgical intervention (2). The most common site of obstruction is the vertical vein at the level of the left pulmonary artery and the left main bronchus in patients with supracardiac TAPVC (1, 3). Immediate relief of the obstruction is required in these patients (3). Because surgicalintervention mortality is high, particularly in patients with obstructed TAPVC, preoperative stabilization by temporarily relieving the obstruction may improve outcomes in this population (3, 4). This case report describes stent implantation as a short-term palliative treatment for obstructed supracardiac TAPVC.