Current method of repair of truncus arteriosus

Surgical treatment of truncus arteriosus has been demonstrated to be optimized when approached in early infancy. In the past, the materials available, namely the 12-mm porcine valve Dacron conduit, restricted the size of the patient in whom early repair could be performed with increasing risk associated with decreasing age and size. The availability of homografts for reconstruction of right ventricular pulmonary artery continuity has allowed repair even in the neonatal period. Two hundred forty-four patients with truncus arteriosus have been operated on at the University of California San Francisco since 1975. In the past 5 years, 49 have been repaired using homograft reconstruction. The method of repair differs markedly from that of Dacron conduits, and specific points concerning homograft insertion including orientation, method of proximal anastomosis, and sizing are discussed in detail and the difference in insertion from the Dacron bovine heterograft conduit are discussed.