title: Systemic pulmonary artery shunt using a bovine mesenteric venous graft in newborns.
abstract: A new bovine mesenteric venous graft 3 or 4 mm in diameter was used for performing systemic pulmonary artery shunts in six cyanotic newborns (aged 2 to 30 days) from March 1997 onward. Clinical and echocardiographic studies proved that all shunts were patent and functioning well after an average of 8.8 months despite no postoperative anticoagulation or antiplatelet regimen. Histological examination of two grafts explanted at the time of bidirectional cavopulmonary anastomosis showed no dense fibrotic mural infiltration, calcification, or anastomotic hyperplasia. Bovine mesenteric venous grafts can be used for the construction of systemic pulmonary artery shunts with advantages similar to that of human vein allografts, such as the facility of implantation, good short- and mid-term patency, easy takedown, and avoidance of complications presumably specific to polytetrafluoroethylene.
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Cardiovascular Surgery, Division of Pediatric Cardiology, University Hospital of Geneva, Switzerland. Afksendiyos.Kalangos@hcuge.ch
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kalangos
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beghetti
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Pache
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vala
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Faidutti
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001166:Arteriovenous Shunt, Surgical / Q000379:methods*; D001705:Bioprosthesis; D019917:Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation; D002417:Cattle; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008642:Mesenteric Veins / Q000637:transplantation*; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000601:surgery*