title: Double-inlet ventricle presenting in infancy. II. Results of palliative operations.
abstract: The influence of palliation on survival was studied in 191 consecutive infants, presenting at under 1 year of age, with double-inlet ventricle (1973 to 1988, median follow-up 8.5 years). Palliative operations were performed on 154 occasions in 121 patients (63%). Survival after a systemic-pulmonary arterial shunt (n = 57) and banding of the pulmonary trunk (n = 35) was comparable (84% and 77% at 1 year, 62% and 45% at 5 years), but those who underwent repair of aortic arch obstruction fared worse (n = 18, 44% and 22% at 1 and 5 years, p less than 0.001). The remainder did not undergo an operation because of balanced physiology (n = 17, 9% of entire group), complex anatomy (n = 32, 15%), or irreversible low output (n = 19, 12%). Palliative surgery, overall, had a deleterious effect on immediate survival (greater than 1 month relative risk 6.6, p less than 0.001), but, in the survivors, medium-term outcome was improved (greater than 6 months, 0.68, p less than 0.05). This effect was most marked for those undergoing a systemic-pulmonary artery shunt (less than 1 month, 2.52; greater than 6 months, 0.43); by contrast, after banding of the pulmonary trunk, with or without additional repair of the aortic arch repair, medium-term risk was not altered (greater than 6 months, 1.13 and 0.91, respectively). These data will assist the clinician in making decisions concerning the management of infants with double-inlet ventricle and in the judicious use of palliative surgery.
authors.affiliation: Thoracic Unit, Hospital For Sick Children, London, England.
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Franklin
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Spiegelhalter
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Macartney
authors.forename: R I
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Rossi Filho
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Rigby
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Deanfield
mesh_terms: D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical; D001017:Aortic Coarctation / Q000601:surgery; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010166:Palliative Care; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000601:surgery; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate