The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Vol 76, 126-129, Copyright © 1978 by The American Association for Thoracic Surgery and The Western Thoracic Surgical Association
The cause of kinking of the right pulmonary artery in the Waterston anastomosis. A growth phenomenon
PS Rao and RG Ellison
The case is presented of an infant, referred at the age of 8 hours, who
underwent a Waterston anastomosis for pulmonary atresia with intact
ventricular septum and a hypoplastic right ventricle. Angiographic studies
performed 3 days and 12 months after the Waterston anastomosis clearly
demonstrated that kinking was not present soon after the operation but
developed later. Kinking of the right pulmonary artery is a widely
recognized complication of the Waterston anastomosis. Data from other
workers show that severe kinking occurs more frequently in infants operated
during the first year of life than in those treated after 1 year of age.
These data and the case herein presented support the hypothesis that the
kinking occurring after the Waterston anastomosis develops because of
growth and realignment of the great arteries. Because of this and other
problems encountered after the Waterston anastomosis, it is recommended
that either primary correction or, in case of an uncorrectable cardiac
defect, a Blalock-Taussig shunt should be performed.