Will my child need a heart transplant if she only has a single ventricle?

No: As long as the rest of her heart is in good condition, surgery can usually repair a single ventricle. Heart transplants are usually only done if all the heart muscle is damaged.

Hopefully not: 350-400 pediatric heart transplants procedures occur worldwide annually. The number of children who have failing cardiac function late after palliative surgery for congenital heart disease is increasing. An example is "failed fontan" - the usual repair for a single ventricle.One of the most common indications for infant heart transplantation is hypoplastic left heart - a single ventricle.

Possible: Every child is different, so it is impossible to predict what will happen to your child. Remember that statistics apply to a whole population, not each individual. But in general, ~ one-third of single-ventricle patients require a transplant during their life-time with today's medical knowledge. Remember, these statistics change as medicine improves too. Please discuss with peds cardio.