title: Indication for systemic-pulmonary artery shunts guided by two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography: criteria for patient selection.
abstract: From June, 1983, to February, 1987, 91 patients with pulmonary outflow tract obstruction underwent a systemic-to-pulmonary artery shunt without an invasive study. The surgical indication was based on two-dimensional (2-D) and Doppler echocardiography only. In 82 patients (90.1%), 2-D and Doppler echocardiography allowed correct assessment of the intracardiac anatomy and of the morphology of the pulmonary arteries, pulmonary veins, and aortic arch. The aortic arch anatomy was misdiagnosed in 6 patients (6.6%) who underwent a modified instead of a classic Blalock-Taussig shunt. In 3 patients (3.3%), the indication for the systemic-pulmonary artery shunt was inappropriate; in 1, operative death resulted from the incomplete diagnosis. After the preselection of patients based on knowledge of the anatomical patterns, a systemic-pulmonary artery shunt may be performed without cardiac catheterization if these rules for definitive patient selection are followed: (1) accurate clinical assessment to identify the patients with restricted pulmonary blood flow; (2) precise intracardiac diagnosis by 2-D and Doppler echocardiography; and (3) definitive 2-D echocardiographic visualization of the pulmonary venous connection and the confluence of the pulmonary arteries.
mesh_terms: D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods*; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D010166:Palliative Care; D011300:Preoperative Care; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000601:surgery*; D011652:Pulmonary Circulation; D013348:Subclavian Artery / Q000601:surgery*