Hemodynamics following the Kreutzer procedure for tricuspid atresia in patients under two years of age.
This study was performed to demonstrate the hemodynamics in three patients who underwent the Kreutzer procedure for repair of tricuspid atresia at the ages of 3, 12, and 18 months, with particular reference to the function of the pulmonary valve. Each patient underwent clinical review and cardiac catheterization 4 to 7 years postoperatively. Cardiac indices were slightly reduced. Pressures in the right atrium were moderately elevated, and tall A waves were incompletely transmitted to the pulmonary artery. Cineangiograms with pressure injections in the main pulmonary artery showed that the pulmonary valves had grown and could function well. Echocardiograms, however, showed no valve closure under normal conditions, and this was confirmed by cineangiography in one patient with a slow, continuous infusion of contrast medium in the main pulmonary artery. We suspect that a structurally perfect valve remains more or less permanently open and serves no function.
D001794:Blood Pressure; D002932:Cineangiography; D005260:Female; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000601:surgery; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008722:Methods; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000502:physiology; D011664:Pulmonary Valve / Q000502:physiology / Q000601:surgery*; D014261:Tricuspid Valve / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000601:surgery; D014655:Vascular Resistance