The Medical journal of Australia
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During the past 15 years, 143 systemic pulmonary shunt procedures have been performed in 117 patients. These have been evaluated for their clinical effectiveness, the need for a repeat operation and the mortality; particular attention was paid to the Teflon shunt. Variations were found in shunt performance, depending on the primary defect, the type of shunt that was employed and the year of operation. ⋯ Two of the four patients had patent shunts. Results in the early part of this experience were less than acceptable owing to inferior shunting techniques, postoperative management errors and, particularly, inadequate follow-up surveillance. With correction of these factors we find that the modified Blalock shunt provides very good early and late mortality results, with excellent clinical palliation and patency rates.