Aorto-ventricular tunnel is a congenital, extracardiac channel which connects the ascending aorta above the sinutubular junction to the cavity of the left, or (less commonly) right ventricle. The exact incidence is unknown, estimates ranging from 0.5% of fetal cardiac malformations to less than 0.1% of congenitally malformed hearts in clinico-pathological series. Approximately 130 cases have been reported in the literature, about twice as many cases in males as in females. Associated defects, usually involving the proximal coronary arteries, or the aortic or pulmonary valves, are present in nearly half the cases. Occasional patients present with an asymptomatic heart murmur and cardiac enlargement, but most suffer heart failure in the first year of life. The etiology of aorto-ventricular tunnel is uncertain. It appears to result from a combination of maldevelopment of the cushions which give rise to the pulmonary and aortic roots, and abnormal separation of these structures. Echocardiography is the diagnostic investigation of choice. Antenatal diagnosis by fetal echocardiography is reliable after 18 weeks gestation. Aorto-ventricular tunnel must be distinguished from other lesions which cause rapid run-off of blood from the aorta and produce cardiac failure. Optimal management of symptomatic aorto-ventricular tunnel consists of diagnosis by echocardiography, complimented with cardiac catheterization as needed to elucidate coronary arterial origins or associated defects, and prompt surgical repair. Observation of the exceedingly rare, asymptomatic patient with a small tunnel may be justified by occasional spontaneous closure. All patients require life-long follow-up for recurrence of the tunnel, aortic valve incompetence, left ventricular function, and aneurysmal enlargement of the ascending aorta.
References
aortic root and the heart, including aortic sinus aneurysms. Thorax 1957;12:125-39.
tunnel. Circulation 1963;27:841-53.
and surgical management. Br Heart J 1974;36:321-8.
2002;12:563-80.
Echocardiographic-anatomical correlations in aorto-left ventricular tunnel. Br Heart J
1995;74:443-8.
concept in congenital cardiac malformations. Ann Thorac Surg 1974;18:634-7.
angioplasty of the main coronary arteries in children. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg
1999;117:352-7.
1967;19:696-709.
aortico-left ventricular tunnel. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg 1991;5:113-7.
review and new surgical classification. Ann Thorac Surg 1988;45:106-12.
– year experience. J Am Coll Cardiol 2004;44:446-50.
Aortic-ventricular tunnel with right coronary artery atresia. Arch Mal Coeur Vaiss
1997;90:725-7.
in an infant. Ann Thorac Surg 1993;55:520-2.
Aortico-left ventricular tunnel with aortic atresia in the newborn. Am Heart J
1993;126:1480-2.
Williams WH: Aortic atresia and aortico-left ventricular tunnel: successful surgical
management by Konno aortoventriculoplasty in a neonate. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg
1986;92:1099-1105.
Roussin R, Bruniaux J, Planché C: Aortico-left ventricular tunnel in fetuses and infants. Ann
Thorac Surg 1996;61:1805-10.
Ann Thorac Surg 1986;42:304-6.
Cardiovasc Surg 1988;36:86-8.
ventricular tunnel: successful diagnostic and surgical approach to the oldest patient in the
literature. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1989;97:804-5.
critical pulmonary stenosis: diagnosis by two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography
and angiography. Pediatr Cardiol 1989;10:99-103.
Canete R, Quero Jimenez M: Aortico-left ventricular tunnel associated with pulmonary valve
stenosis. Rev Esp Cardiol 1996;49:921-4.
ventricular tunnel associated with subpulmonary obstruction. Ann Thorac Surg
1992;54:557-9.
aortico-left ventricular tunnel in the neonate: surgical, anatomic and echocardiographic
considerations. Circulation 1982;65:1015-20.
Aotra-right ventricular tunnel with a rudimentary valve and an anomalous origin of the
left coronary artery. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1992;104:1759-60.
Clinical profile, diagnostic features and surgical considerations. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg
1976;71:238-44.
adulthood. Am J Cardiol 1989;63:1021-2.
Heart J 1985;54:333-6.
communication after closure. Late postoperative problems. Br Heart J 1983;49:501-6.
supravalvular aortic aneurysm communicating with the outflow-tract of the left ventricle.
Hypoplasia of the aortic orifice and ascending aorta. J Cardiovasc Surg 1964;5:401-7.
regurgitation and of intracardiac aneurysm. Am J Med 1965;39:662-7.
ventricular tunnel with pulmonary stenosis and an anomalous origin of the left coronary
artery. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg 2002;21:1123-5.
concepts and current ideas. Anat Rec (New Anat) 2002;269:198-208.
inadequacy of existing theories on development of the proximal coronary arteries and their
connexions with the arterial trunks. Int J Cardiol 1998;20:117-23.
Lamers WH: Normal development of the outflow tract in the rat. Circ Res 1998;82:464-72.
35 Bash SE, Huhta JC, Nihill MR, Vargo TA, Hallman GL: Aortico-left ventricular tunnel
with ventricular septal defect: two-dimensional/Doppler echocardiographic diagnosis. J Am
Coll Cardiol 1985;5:757-60.
tunnel arising from the left aortic sinus. Am J Cardiol 1985;55:1657-
ventricular tunnel: diagnosis based on two-dimensional echocardiography, color flow
Doppler imaging, and magnetic resonance imaging. Mayo Clin Proc 1986;61:901-7.
identification of aortico-left ventricular tunnel. Am J Cardiol 1983;52:913-4.
outcome after surgical repair. J Am Coll Cardiol 1991;17:950-5.
and real-time three-dimensional echocardiographic fetal diagnosis of aorto-ventricular
tunnel. Circulation 2005;111:e367-8.
ventricular tunnel. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol 2000;15:435-8.
ventricular tunnel mimicking severe aortic incompetence in utero. Eur J Cardiothoracic
Surg 2006;29:845-7.
aortico-ventricular tunnel repair. Jpn J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2006;54:182-4.
artery from aorto-left ventricular tunnel: case report of a new surgical approach. J Thorac
Cardiovasc Surg 1998;116:363-5.
ventricle fistula and review of aortocardiac fistulas. Ann Thorac Surg 1997;23:378-88.
Valsalva aneurysm. Case report with operative repair. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg
1978;75:232-6.
ventricular tunnel during the first day of life. Ann Thorac Surg 1989;47:254-6.
tunnel associated with severe aortic stenosis in a newborn. Pediatr Cardiol 1985;6:171-3.
Aortico-left ventricular tunnel in infancy. Two surgical cases. Scand J Thor Cardiovasc Surg
1980;14:169-75.
associated with critical aortic stenosis in the newborn. Pediatr Cardiol 1991;12:237-40.
aortico-left ventricular tunnel associated with severe aortic stenosis presenting in a
newborn. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg 1996;10:380-2.
closure using an Amplatzer duct occluder device. Am J Cardiol 2000;86:253-4.
closing an aortico-left ventricular tunnel in a case of noncompaction of the left ventricle.
Pediatr Cardiol 2004;25:77-9.
of aortico-left ventricular tunnel – 10-year follow-up. Circ J 2006;70:939-41.
A complete review to
Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases 2007, 2:41doi