Incomplete transposition of the great vessels with biventricular origin of the pulmonary artery (Taussig-Bing complex); report of four cases and review of the literature

Differential diagnosis of the Taussig-Bing heart from complete transposition of the great vessels with a posteriorly overriding pulmonary artery

The Taussig-Bing transposition bears the name of the authors who described for the first time the clinical, physiologic, and anatomic findings. It has been recognized that the malformation is physiologically not so distinct as it is anatomically and that a transposition with the same physiologic pattern but different anatomy has been observed. Several case reports have appeared in the literature in which no clear differentiation was made in regard to the second type of transposition with overriding pulmonary artery. In the latter instance there is a complete transposition of both great vessels with a posteriorly placed overriding pulmonary artery in contrast to the original Taussig-Bing heart in which the 2 vessels are side by side, the pulmonary artery being in its normal place.

Following the original case report, 14 cases were seen in this clinic in which the diagnosis was established either by catheterization, angiocardiography, or autopsy. In 4 other cases, the diagnosis of a transposition with a posterior overriding pulmonary artery was made. Criteria for the differential diagnosis of these 2 lesions are pointed out. The differentiation of these 2 transpositions is of particular importance for possible surgical correction.

Taussig-Bing heart with mitral valve straddling: case reports and postmortem study

Seven autopsied cases of the Taussig-Bing Heart diagnosed at the Heart Institute of Japan were reexamined for this report. Three cases had been correctly classified according to the original description of the Taussig-Bing Heart. The remaining four cases provided examples of a rare variation of this malformation. Characteristic features included the following: the mitral valve straddled the ventricular septum in all cases; the chordae of the anterior leaflet crossed over the septum into the right ventricle through a large subpulmonary ventricular septal defect; and an abnormal muscle ridge, extending from the caudal part of the parietal band, covered the right ventricular side of the ventricular septal defect. Although these four cases differ anatomically from the original Taussig-Bing Heart, their hemodynamics are similar. We have called this anomaly the Taussig-Bing Heart with mitral valve straddling.