Pulmonary atresia and transposition of the great arteries. Monitoring of the transcutaneous oxygen tension during palliative measures in two cases.

Congenital malformations of the heart may disturb the central circulation fundamentally. Two such conditions can be treated palliatively in the neonatal period. In pulmonary atresia patency of the ductus arterious of Botallo can be maintained by administration of prostaglandin E1, and in transposition of the great arteries an atrial septal defect can be created by balloon septostomy. We report 2 cases, where transcutaneous PO2 was recorded while these procedures were carried out. In both cases we obtained immediate information of the effect of the procedures, and subsequent treatment could be modified continuously according to changes in the transcutaneous PO2.