J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2004;128:325-326
© 2004 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery
Reply to the Editor
Kathryn K. Collins, MD
University of California, San Francisco, 521 Parnassus, C-346, Box 0632, San Francisco, CA 94117 USA
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The Fontan population is heterogeneous in terms of the underlying anatomy and number and nature of surgical interventions before the Fontan operation. Many factors are thought to be associated with the development of atrial arrhythmias in this group. Animal studies have suggested that surgical incision and extended suture lines are particularly likely to create an arrhythmogenic substrate.1-3 The more recent versions of the Fontan procedure (lateral tunnel or the extracardiac conduit) have had lower reported incidences of late atrial arrhythmias than the older types of Fontan operations.4 Long-term follow-up of the extracardiac conduit Fontan operation has not yet been reported with respect to arrhythmia, but Stamm . . . [Full Text of this Article]
Copyright © 2004 by The American Association for Thoracic Surgery.
