The surgical strategy for tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the indication and surgical technique for treating tetralogy of F allot with pulmonary atresia (TOF-PA).Methods From June 1984 to June 2009,66 patients with TOF-PA underwent 69 operations.Among them,34 were males and 32 females.Their age ranged from 6 months to 29 years.The anatomic characteristics of TOF-PA included 31 cases of Type Ⅰ,14 Type Ⅱ,12 Type Ⅲ and 9 Type Ⅳ.The operations included palliative aorto-pulmonary shunts in 11 cases,one-stage unifocalization with unpatched VSD in 2 cases,one stage complete repair in 40 cases,one-stage unifocalization with VSD repair in 13 cases,and delayed intracardiac repair after shunt procedures in 3 cases.Results There were 6 early deaths,including 1 death happened after aorta-pulmonary shunt and 5 after complete repair.The causes of death were severe low cardiac output in 3 cases,respiratory failure in 1,multiorgan function failure in 1 and severe wound infection with endocarditis in 1 after aorta-pulmonary shunt.The postoperative oxygen saturation of the patients undergone shunt and one stage unifocalization with unpatched VSD increased to 82％ ～ 91％.The postoperative ratio of right ventricular pressure/left ventricular pressure after complete repair was ＜ 0.5 in 31 cases,18 cases were between 0.5 and 7 cases ＞ 0.75.47 patients were followed up from 3 months to 15.5 years.The heart function(NYHA) of 44 patients were in class Ⅰ or Ⅱ and 3 in class Ⅲ or Ⅳafter operation.Conclusion The surgical strategy for TOF-PA mainly depends on the anatomic characteristics of the pulmonary and aortopulmonary collateral arteries.An individualized approach based on the anatomy of the pulmonary circuits permits a better result in the patients with TOF-PA.Patients with well developed pulmonary arteries should undergo one stage complete repair as early as possible.