Ventricular inversion and tricuspid atresia (VITA complex): long survival without surgical treatment.

Five patients with ventricular inversion, corrected transposition of the great arteries, and atresia of the left-sided atrioventricular (tricuspid) valve have been observed. Three patients died in infancy, two had large interatrial communications, one with an early stage of arterial-type hypertensive pulmonary vascular disease, and the third patient had a very small interatrial communication and severe cyanosis. The other two patients survived into adulthood; both had small interatrial communications, and one had severe venous-type hypertensive pulmonary vascular disease. The longer survival of the two patients is attributed to a balance between resistance and blood flow in the pulmonary circulation influenced by the size of the interatrial communication.