Absent pulmonary valve syndrome: a two-stage operation.
A successful two-stage surgical repair of tetralogy of Fallot with absent pulmonary valve is reported. A newborn with hyperinflated lungs and tachypnea underwent pulmonary artery banding and an aortopulmonary artery shunt, which reversed the air trapping. A successful corrective operation was performed at 28 months of age, and the patient remains asymptomatic at 44 months of age. We believe that infants with signs of tracheobronchial compression should undergo pulmonary artery banding, with or without a Blalock-Taussig shunt, to relieve airway compression by the pulsatile, aneurysmal pulmonary arteries. Corrective operation can be delayed.
D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011664:Pulmonary Valve / Q000002:abnormalities*; D013771:Tetralogy of Fallot / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*