1 Department of Pediatrics Medical College of Virginia Virginia Commonwealth University Box 291, MCV Station Richmond, Virginia 23298
We wish to thank Dr. Shakibi for his comments on the controversial subject of single ventricle. The references quoted in his correspondence share in common the definition of single ventricle which excludes tricuspid and mitral atresia. Other authors, however, have included atresia of the atrioventricular valves in their descriptions of the malformation.1-3 We chose to follow Engles's terminology in our case discussion. She states that " patients with single ventricle may have a common atnoventricular valve or two AV valves, either of which may be stenosed or even atretic."