"Bendy" stents help negotiate hairpin intracardiac curves

Simple transposition of the great arteries (TGA) occurs in 0.2 per 1000 live births. The condition is surgically repaired in the neonatal period by the arterial switch procedure (ASO) sometimes preceded by an atrial septostomy. The ASO involves transecting the great arteries and relocating them to the appropriate ventriculo-arterial (VA) connection with attachment of the disconnected coronary arteries to the aorta. In the process, the attachment of the pulmonary artery to the right ventricle involves the Le Compte manoeuvre and to achieve this the pulmonary arteries must be fully mobilised and sometimes the main pulmonary artery may require patch augmentation as well. Nevertheless, pulmonary artery stenosis (PAS) is one of the potential problems with the ASO. However, with improved surgical techniques, this has dropped from around 15% in the 1980s to less than 3%. Apart from surgical revision when PAS occurs, there are interventional options which include angioplasty and/or stent insertion. The latter is preferred in small children and works well in around 60% but may require repeat procedures. In older patients or when angioplasty fails, stent insertion can be considered. These procedures may involve negotiating tight bends in order to reach the site of stenosis. The passage of non-premounted stents may be problematic in such situations, especially with longer stents and tighter bends as they tend to slip off balloon. We describe several techniques that may facilitate such interventions, and these were utilised in an adolescent patient who had had ASO for TGA in the neonatal period. These included manually giving the mounted stent a slight bend in order to help the balloon-stent assembly negotiate hairpin bends.