The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Vol 77, 826-831, Copyright © 1979 by The American Association for Thoracic Surgery and The Western Thoracic Surgical Association
Repair of tetralogy of Fallot after Waterston anastomosis
O Alfieri, G Locatelli, T Bianchi, V Vanini and L Parenzan
Sixty-three corrective operations have been performed in patients with
Tetralogy of Fallot and a previously constructed Waterston shunt. The
patients were from 1.4 to 8 years of age (median 4.3 years), and the mean
interval between the Waterston shunt and the repair was 39.3 +/- 16.05
months. Three patients developed pulmonary atresia and six required a
second anastomosis prior to intracardiac repair. Kinking and stenosis of
the right pulmonary artery at the site of the Waterston anastomosis
occurred in 12 (19 percent; 70 percent confidence limits 14 to 26 percent)
patients who required patch enlargement of the right pulmonary artery at
repair. Seven (11 percent; 70 percent confidence limits 7 to 17 percent)
patients died in the hospital and three (5 percent; 70 percent confidence
limits 2 to 11 percent) during the period of late follow-up. None of the
early or late deaths was specifically related to the presence of the
previously performed Waterston anastomosis.