title: Quality of Life for Historic Cavopulmonary Shunt Survivors.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Beginning with Dr William Glenn in 1958, 90 patients with congenital heart lesions underwent cavopulmonary (Glenn) shunts over a 30-year period. In 2015, the follow-up data on this original cohort were reported. The study focuses on the current quality of life of this cohort.
  
  
  METHODS
  Of the original 91 cavopulmonary shunt survivors, 14 (ages: 26-59; average length of postsurgical follow-up: 38.4 years) completed the Rand 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey, volume 2 (SF-36v2) quality-of-life survey at clinical office visits, over the phone or via regular mail. Diagnoses included tricuspid atresia (n = 9), double inlet left ventricle (n = 1), d-transposition of great arteries (n = 1), Ebstein's anomaly (n = 1), tetralogy of Fallot (n = 1), and pulmonary atresia with hypoplastic right ventricle (n = 1). Norm-based comparison of cavopulmonary shunt survivors to the general population was performed using a one-sample t test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 36-question health survey, SF-36v2, provided physical and mental health summary measures standardized to achieve a mean of 50. The 14 survivors' physical composite score was 47.18 (standard deviation [SD]: 8.24; P = .22) and mental composite score was 52.71 (SD: 5.64; P = .095).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The cavopulmonary shunt is now a widely used surgical palliation for single-ventricle patients and can be associated with physical and mental health outcomes similar to the general US population. Cavopulmonary shunt survivors' SF-36v2 survey results do not demonstrate a statistically significant difference from the general US population in physical or mental health measures. The results of this study contribute to the discussion of quality of life for patients with congenital heart disease by following up with the oldest known survivors.
authors: Department of Surgery, Section of Cardiac Surgery, Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA margaret.steele@yale.edu.
authors: Margaret M
authors: MM
authors: Steele
authors: Department of Pediatrics, Section of Pediatric Cardiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors: Riad Abou
authors: RA
authors: Zahr
authors: Department of Surgery, Section of Cardiac Surgery, Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors: Paul M
authors: PM
authors: Kirshbom
authors: Department of Surgery, Section of Cardiac Surgery, Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors: Gary S
authors: GS
authors: Kopf
authors: Department of Surgery, Section of Cardiac Surgery, Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors: Mohsen
authors: M
authors: Karimi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D018610:Heart Bypass, Right / Q000266:history / Q000379:methods; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States
keywords: Glenn shunt; cavopulmonary shunt; congenital heart disease; quality of life