What is it about?

Hypoplastic left heart (HLHS) is a congenital anomaly that is lethal after birth unless addressed immediately with a series of life-saving surgeries. In HLHS, the left ventricle fails to develop, due perhaps to mitral or aortic valve stenosis, or aortic hypoplasia. The right ventricle compensates by pumping all of the blood for the entire body. There is much we don't understand about HLHS because until now there have not been reproducible large animal models.

Why is this important?

Coronary perfusion is crucial for heart health. A lack of coronary perfusion is what damages the myocardium in a heart attack, and chronic under-perfusion is also damaging. In this study, we show for the first time how coronary capillary perfusion and growth is different in the fetal univentricular heart.

Find this paper in the Journal of Physiology and Pubmed.