Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T04:53:49.319Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Criterions for selection of patients for, and results of, a new technique for construction of the modified Blalock-Taussig shunt

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 September 2006

Ujjwal K. Chowdhury
Affiliation:
Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
Panangipalli Venugopal
Affiliation:
Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
Shyam S. Kothari
Affiliation:
Department of Cardiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
Anita Saxena
Affiliation:
Department of Cardiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
Sachin Talwar
Affiliation:
Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
Ganapathy Subramaniam
Affiliation:
Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
Rajvir Singh
Affiliation:
Department of Biostatistics, Cardiothoracic Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
Kizakke K. Pradeep
Affiliation:
Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
Siddhartha Sathia
Affiliation:
Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
A. Sampath Kumar
Affiliation:
Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India

Abstract

Background: We describe alternative surgical techniques for construction of systemic-to-pulmonary arterial shunts, and propose criterions for their application in selected patients. Patients and methods: We constructed a variety of modified systemic-to-pulmonary arterial shunts, using polytetrafluroethylene grafts, in 92 selected patients with cyanotic congenital heart disease and anomalies of the aortic arch and systemic veins. Their age ranged from 7 days to 3.6 years, with a mean of 7.08 months. We performed 88 operations through a thoracotomy. Of this cohort, 60 patients underwent a second-stage operation, with 15 receiving a superior cavopulmonary connection, 16 a total cavopulmonary connection, and 29 proceeding to biventricular repair after a mean interval of 15.6 months. We have 21 patients awaiting their second or final stage of palliation. Results: There were five early (5.4%) and six late deaths (6.8%), two of which were related to construction of the shunts. At a mean follow-up of 45.29 months, the increase in diameter of pulmonary trunk and its right and left branches was uniform and significant (p value less than 0.001). Pulmonary arterial distortion requiring correction at the time of second-stage operation was observed in 5 patients (6.1%). Adequate overall palliation was achieved in 98% of the cohort at 8 months, 91% at 12 months, and 58% at 18 months. Conclusions: Patients with a right- or left-sided aortic arch and right-sided descending thoracic aorta, those with anomalies of systemic venous drainage masking the origin of great arterial branches, and those withdisproportionately small subclavian arteries, constitute the ideal candidates for our suggested modification of the construction of a modified Blalock-Taussig shunt. The palliation provided by these shunts was satisfactory, with predictable growth of pulmonary arteries, insignificant distortion in the great majority, and easy take-down.

Type
Original Article
Copyright
© 2006 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Piehler JM, Danielson GK, McGoon DC, Wallace RB, Fulton RE, Mair DD. Management of pulmonary atresia with ventricular septal defect and hypoplastic pulmonary arteries by right ventricular outflow construction. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1980; 80 : 552567.Google Scholar
Nakata S, Takanashi Y, Tezyka M, et al. A new method for the quantitative standardization of cross-sectional areas of the pulmonary arteries in congenital heart disease with decreased pulmonary blood flow. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1984; 88 : 610619.Google Scholar
Grollman JH, Bedynck JL, Henderson HS, Hall RJ. Right aortic arch with an aberrant retroesophageal innominate artery: Angiographic diagnosis. Radiology 1968; 90: 7881.Google Scholar
Bove EL, Kohman L, Sereika S, et al. The modified Blalock-Taussig shunt: analysis of adequacy and duration of palliation. Circulation 1987; 76: III19III23.Google Scholar
Godart F, Qureshi SA, Simha A, et al. Effects of modified and classic Blalock-Taussig shunts on the pulmonary arterial tree. Ann Thorac Surg 1998; 65: 512518.Google Scholar
Barragry TP, Ring WS, Blatchford JW, Foker JE. Central aorta – pulmonary artery shunts in neonates with complex cyanotic congenital heart disease. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1987; 93: 767774.Google Scholar
Gates RN, Laks H, Johnson K. Side-to-side aorto-Gore-Tex central shunt. Ann Thorac Surg 1998; 65: 515516.Google Scholar
Woolf PK, Stephenson LW, Meijboom E, et al. A comparison of Blalock-Taussig, Waterston and polytetrafluoroethylene shunts in children less than two weeks of age. Ann Thorac Surg 1984; 38: 2630.Google Scholar
Alkhulaifi AM, Lacour-Gayet F, Serraf A, Belli E, Planche C. Systemic-pulmonary shunts in neonates: early clinical outcome and choice of surgical approach. Ann Thorac Surg 2000; 69: 14991504.Google Scholar
Potapov E, Alexi-Meskishvili VV, Dähnert I, Ivanitskaia E, Large PE, Hetzer R. Development of pulmonary arteries after central aortopulmonary shunt in newborns. Ann Thorac Surg 2001; 71: 899906.Google Scholar
Waterston DJ, Pohl V, Kallfelz HC, Kreutzberg B. Shuntoperationen bei Fallotscher Tetralogie mit doppeltem aortenbogen. Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift 1971; 28: 11911194.Google Scholar
Fermanis GG, Ekangaki AK, Salmon AP, et al. Twelve year experience with the modified Blalock-Taussig shunt in neonates. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg 1992; 6: 586589.Google Scholar
Gladman G, McCrindle BW, Williams WG, Freedom RM, Benson LN. The modified Blalock-Taussig shunt: clinical impact and morbidity in Fallot's tetralogy in the current era. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1997; 114: 2530.Google Scholar
Calder A, Chan N, Clarkson P, Kerr A, Neutze J. Progress of patients with pulmonary atresia after systemic to pulmonary arterial shunts. Ann Thorac Surg 1991; 51: 401407.Google Scholar
Ishikawa S, Takahashi T, Suzuki M, et al. Growth of the pulmonary arteries after systemic-pulmonary shunt. Ann Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2001; 7: 337340.Google Scholar
Batra AS, Starnes VA, Wells WJ. Does the site of insertion of a systemic-pulmonary shunt influence growth of the pulmonary arteries? Ann Thorac Surg 2005; 79: 636640.Google Scholar