The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 27, 413-417, Copyright © 1979 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Aorta-pulmonary artery shunts with expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) tube
K Miyamoto, C Zavanella, AN Lewin and S Subramanian
Ten patients underwent an aortapulmonary artery shunt with a
polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) tube between December, 1976, and October,
1977. Five of them were less than 1 month old. The diameter of the PTFE
tube was 5 mm in 9 patients and 4 mm in 1 patient. Seven patients survived
the operation. One of them had a clotted shunt, which was reoperated on
successfully. Three patients died in the postoperative period, and all had
a patent shunt. Overall patency was 90% (9/10). Congestive heart failure
refractory to medical treatment developed in 1 patient with a patent
Blalock-Taussig and PTFE shunt. In our institution, the Blalock-Taussig
shunt is the procedure of choice. The PTFE shunt is used when the anatomy
of a patient is unsuitable for a Blalock-Taussig shunt. A tube diameter of
5 mm is optimal for infants when further growth is considered, even if
digitalization is necessary to control congestive heart failure.