The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Vol 72, 588-592, Copyright © 1976 by The American Association for Thoracic Surgery and The Western Thoracic Surgical Association
The Waterston anastomosis with no deaths in the neonate
S Stewart, EB Mahoney and J Manning
The Waterston anastomosis has been performed with no deaths in 11
consecutive neonates during the past 24 months. Seven neonates had
pulmonary atresia with either single ventricle or hypoplastic right
ventricle, 3 had tetralogy of Fallot, and one had severe pulmonary stenosis
with a normal right ventricle. Six neonates were one day old and only one
was older than 7 days. All have obtained symptomatic and documented
(increase Po2) benefit. This level of success is attributed to (1) minimal
delay between the recognition of cyanosis and operation (mean time between
hospital admission and catheterization was 3 hours and between
catheterization and operation, 4 hours); (2) correction of any base deficit
prior to, during, and after operation; (3) accurate construction of the
anastomosis to avoid excessive size, and (4) careful postoperative
management of the pulmonary subsystem by experienced personnel. We have
demonstrated that the high mortality rate previously reported for the
Waterston anastomosis in the neonate can be markedly improved by an
appropriate patient management program.