Side-to-side aorto-Gore-Tex central shunt.
BACKGROUND
This report details our experience in 13 patients with a technical modification of the standard central shunt.


METHODS
The study was performed using a retrospective chart review approach. In our operation, the aorto-Gore-Tex (W.L. Gore & Assoc, Flagstaff, AZ) anastomosis is created in a side-to-side fashion with the free end of the Gore-Tex shunt being oversewn.


RESULTS
All patients had echocardiographic evidence of shunt patency in the immediate postoperative period, and there have been no cases of late shunt occlusion at a mean follow-up period of 10 months.


CONCLUSIONS
We believe this approach will yield patency rates equivalent to or better than those of the standard central shunt. The technique has the advantage of creating a short, straight-lying shunt that is less likely to kink or be injured on repeated sternotomy and in which flow may be more reliable.
Gates
R N
RN
Department of Surgery, University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center, 90095-1741, USA.
Laks
H
H
Johnson
K
K
D001011:Aorta / Q000601:surgery*; D019917:Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation / Q000379:methods*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011138:Polytetrafluoroethylene; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000601:surgery*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
D011138:Polytetrafluoroethylene