Alan's diagnosis was Pulmonary Atresia with intact ventricular septum. Above is a beautiful drawing by Dr. Steve Goldberg who is absolutely the best. Here is a good link to find out more:
In Alan's case, his pulmonary valve, which is where blood exits the right side of the heart to go to the lungs was completely blocked in utero. This made his right ventricle, which pumps to the lungs underdeveloped and pretty much useless. To treat him , the plan was a 3 stage surgical process to ultimately leave him with a Fontan circulation, which would leave him with one functioning pumping chamber of his heart.
The first stage, the BT shunt would be performed right away. It is a tube between the subclavian and pulmonary artery It was a temporary measure to give him some circulation to his lungs until he could grow big enough for the next stage.
He went to the heart cath lab his first week to get checked out further and to have his atrial septum opened up. Alan was born right before the hospital moved to their new building so scheduling his surgery was difficult. He didn't get his operation until about 10 days old in the new hospital.
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