[Late reinterventions after repair of common arterial trunk]

The common arterial trunk is a heart disease in witch a unique arterial trunk, with a unique ventriculo-arterial valve, exits from the ventricular mass and supply directly the coronary, the aortic and also the pulmonary arterial circulations. Its anatomic repair is now possible but necessitates the use of conduit in pulmonary position.

To evaluate the incidence and the causes of late reinterventions after repair of common arterial trunk.

We retrospectively study the outcome of 17 patients who underwent repair of common arterial trunk between January 1983 and December 2006. The 15 early survivors were followed during a median period of 7 years (range 10 months and 13 years).

Nine reinterventions were necessary in 8 patients. Only one conduit reintervention was necessary in the 8 patients. Freedom from conduit reintervention was 73% at 5 years and 33% at 10 years. Three reinterventions were performed in 2 patients for severe truncal valve incompetence, including repair in 2 cases and replacement in one case. Freedom from truncal valve reintervention was 67% at 10 years.

Late reinterventions are inevitable after repair of common arterial trunk. The most common reasons are conduit stenosis and truncal valve incompetence.