Aortico-left ventricular tunnel with natal cardiac failure.

Presented is a case of aortico-left ventricular tunnel in a 1-day-old girl who was in shock and severe cardiac failure. The clinical, auscultatory, hemodynamic and angiocardiographic, surgical, and pathologic findings in this case and from the 21 others reported in the literature are described. The diagnosis should be considered in an infant or child with signs of aortic insufficiency. Aortography is diagnostic when a localized supravascular aortic channel communicating with the left ventricle is opacified. Definitive treatment is surgical, though residual aortic insufficiency is common.