Surgical palliation of single ventricle with pulmonary stenosis

Recurrent hemoptysis following a systemic-to-pulmonary anastomosis in a child with a complex congenital cardiomyopathy

A 14-year-old boy with a history of congenital cardiopathy is presented. At age 4, a left systemic-to-pulmonary fistula was performed, using a tubular prosthesis to anastomose the left subclavian artery to the left pulmonary artery. Following this procedure, he developed recurrent episodes of hemoptysis, cough, and left upper lobe consolidation. Treatment resulted in clinical but no radiologic resolution. At age 6, a new right systemic-to-pulmonary anastomosis was needed, as the left one was no longer functioning. After placement of the second shunt, the hemoptysis disappeared. At age 14, flexible bronchoscopy revealed a foreign body granuloma at the left secondary carina. Rigid bronchoscopy and laser photoresection showed it to be the left vascular prosthesis, placed 10 years before. Surgery failed to remove it.

Long-term follow-up after palliative operation for univentricular heart

Data are presented from 84 patients (45 males, 39 females), aged 6 days to 25 years (mean 10 years), with univentricular heart who underwent a palliative surgical procedure. The mean follow-up period was 5 years (range 1 month to 25 years). Of the 84 patients, 33 died and 51 are alive. The survivors were 1.5 to 41 years (mean 15). Systemic pulmonary artery shunts alone were performed in 43 patients, pulmonary artery banding in 15, and a combination of procedures in 26. Five years after diagnosis, 70% of patients with type A and 54% with type C univentricular heart were alive, with no statistical difference in survival between the patient groups. Because of the high attrition rate in these patients despite palliation, further attempts to perfect corrective surgery appear justified.

Common or single ventricle. An angiocardiographic and hemodynamic study of 42 patients

To correlate anatomy with hemodynamics, the angiocardiographic findings were reviewed in 42 patients with common ventricle (CV). Nine had normally related great arteries (NRGA), 12 d-malposition, 21 l-malposition and 5 a common atrioventricular valve. Selective outlet chamber (OLC) angiocardiograms were available in 14 out of 29 patients with OLCs. OLC position varied from anterior and to the right of the CV to posterior and to the left of it; two categories (anterior and lateral OLC) were delineated by a line 45 degrees to theleft of anterior in the horizontal plane. The OLC was anterior in all patients with NRGA, lateral in most l-malpositions, and almost equally divided between anterior and lateral in d-malposition (P less than 0.05). Complete hemodynamic data were obtained in 29 patients. Complete mixing of venous return occurred in four patients with atresia of one valve. In the remainder complete mixing occurred in 36%, unfavorable streaming in 12% and favorable streaming in 52%. Semilunar valve position and pulmonary stenosis did not affect the nature of mixing. Systemic arterial (SA) minus pulmonary arterial O2 saturation was positive and significantly higher in patients with malposition with lateral OLCs than anterior OLCs (P less than 0.001). However 79% of SA O2 saturation variation could be predicted from pulmonary and systemic blood flow alone.