Late results after extended pulmonary artery reconstruction in the arterial switch operation

Pulmonary artery stenosis remains the most frequent late complication and cause of reintervention after the arterial switch operation for transposition of the great arteries. We investigated the influence of an extended pericardial patch augmentation of the neopulmonary root and pulmonary artery on late pulmonary artery stenosis development.

Augmentation of the neopulmonary root and pulmonary artery was achieved by reconstructing the posterior wall using a large glutaraldehyde-treated autologous pericardial patch. Reviewed were regular follow-up echocardiograms from 58 out of 87 patients undergoing the arterial switch operation who presented a follow-up period of at least 5 years. An actual follow-up echocardiographic evaluation focusing on the maximal instantaneous transpulmonary continuous-wave (cw)-Doppler gradient was performed, followed by cardiac catheterization when indicated (peak cw-Doppler gradient > 40 mm Hg).

Follow-up was 8.9 [5 to 15] years. There was no reintervention due to residual pulmonary artery stenosis. Actual Doppler examination revealed a transpulmonary peak gradient of 19.5 [0 to 56] mm Hg, compared with 20 [0 to 60] mm Hg at discharge. Forty-three patients (74.1%) had no or only trivial pulmonary artery stenosis (pressure gradient < 25 mm Hg), 14 patients (24.2%) had mild stenosis (25 to 49 mm Hg), and 1 patient (1.7%) had moderate stenosis (50 to 79 mm Hg).

Compared with the majority of literature data, we could demonstrate a low incidence of late pulmonary artery stenosis after the arterial switch operation by employing an extended pericardial patch reconstruction technique with augmentation of the neopulmonary root and pulmonary artery.