The Thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon
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Thorac Cardiovasc Surg · Aug 1984
Late results of valve xenograft conduits between the right ventricle and the pulmonary arteries in patients with pulmonary atresia and extreme tetralogy of Fallot.
Between 1975 and 1982, valve xenograft conduits were used to establish continuity between the right ventricle and the pulmonary arteries in 28 patients between the ages of 3 to 39 years (mean 14.7 years) with 4 hospital deaths (14%). The indications for operation were pulmonary atresia types I and II in 7, extreme tetralogy of Fallot with hypoplastic pulmonary artery and valvular ring in 10, secondary obliteration of the infundibulum following Waterston shunt in 4, pulmonary valve insufficiency after transannular right ventricular outflow tract patch in 5 and tetralogy of Fallot with anomalous coronary artery in 2. Twenty-one patients (87%) between 9 and 41 years of age (mean 17.4 years) were available for follow-up 1/2 to 8 years after operation. ⋯ Late densitometric studies for assessing pulmonary valve competence revealed regurgitant fraction of up to 40% of the total stroke volume in the absence of a residual shunt 2 to 4 years after conduit implantation. Three children underwent uneventful surgical replacement of calcified xenograft conduit 1 1/2 to 4 1/2 years after surgery with antibiotic-sterilized valve allograft. Four other patients have residual ventricular septal defects (VSD), 2 of them underwent surgical reclosure while the other 2 patients with pulmonary hypertension still have their residual VSD open.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)