Stenosis of the pulmonary valve as the sole or major anomaly has been recognized for many years as one of the more uncommon forms of congenital heart disease. It occurs much more frequently in association with an interventricular septal defect, usually as a component of the tetralogy of Fallot. According to the recently published bibliography1 and Maude Abbott's pioneering study of congenital heart disease,2 the first case of pulmonary stenosis with patent foramen ovale and intact interventricular septum was published about one hundred years ago by Peacock.3
In her analysis of 1,000 cases of congenital heart disease, Abbott found 16 such cases, with an additional 9 cases of pulmonary stenosis in which both the septums were closed. This total of 25 cases in which the intervetricular septum was closed was in sharp contrast to the 85 cases of pulmonary stenosis associated with defects of the interventricular septum;