Truncus arteriosus (TA) is a rare congenital cardiovascular anomaly characterized by a single arterial trunk arising from the heart by means of a single semilunar valve (<I>i.e.</I> truncal valve). Pulmonary arteries originate from the common arterial trunk distal to the coronary arteries and proximal to the first brachiocephalic branch of the aortic arch. TA typically overrides a large outlet ventricular septal defect (VSD). The intracardiac anatomy usually displays situs solitus and atrioventricular (AV) concordance.

The presence of an aortic valve with two instead of the normal three cusps (flaps). Bicuspid aortic valvue is a malformation of a commissure (small space between the attachment of each cusp to the aortic wall) and the adjacent parts of the two corresponding cusps forming a raphe (the fused area of the two underdeveloped cusps turning into a malformed commissure between both cusps; the raphe is a fibrous ridge that extends from the commissure to the free edge of the two underdeveloped, conjoint cusps).