Ambulatory 24-hour electrocardiographic monitoring following total cavopulmonary connection

A total of 72 patients (53 males, 19 females) in the age range 1-22 years (mean 6.4 years) who underwent univentricular repair between April 1990 and May 1997 at our institute were followed up from six months to seven years (mean 3.6 years). Twenty-four hours ambulatory electrocardiographic Holter monitoring was done in all the patients. Thirty-four out of 40 patients (85%) who underwent fenestrated total cavopulmonary connection and 25 out of 32 patients (78%) who underwent non-fenestrated total cavopulmonary connection had normal Holter recording; thus 59 out of 72 (82%) patients had normal findings. Among the fenestrated total cavopulmonary connections, three patients each had atrial tachycardia and sinus bradycardia. In the non-fenestrated group, two patients had atrial tachycardia, three had supraventricular tachycardia, one sinus bradycardia and one had intermittent ventricular tachycardia. No correlation was found between age at surgery, pre-operative morphology, cross clamp time or cardiopulmonary bypass time with post-operative arrhythmia. To conclude, post-operative arrhythmias following total cavopulmonary connection were not related to age at surgery, pre-operative morphology, cross clamp or cardiopulmonary bypass time. However, a larger patient pool and longer follow-up is required for evaluation of any definitive correlation.