A Newborn Infant with a Pulsatile Substernal Structure in a Midline Defect; Cantrell's Syndrome

Abstract

The present report describes a male newborn with a pulsatile structure beneath the sternum. Echocardiography showed common atrium, a single ventricle, mitral atresia, double outlet right ventricle, subpulmonary stenosis, small pulmonary artery branches, and a thin walled ventricular diverticulum suggestive of Cantrell's syndrome. The diverticulum was resected to prevent life threatening events such as arrhythmias, thrombogenicity, and spontaneous rupture of diverticulum. Maternal use of carbamazepine during pregnancy seems to be the etiologic factor.