Anatomic correction for transposition of the great arteries: first follow-up (38 patients)

Between April 1983 and October 1985, 38 consecutive patients with transposition of the great arteries (TGA) underwent anatomic correction. Ages ranged from 1 day to 284 weeks (mean 26.2 weeks). Simple TGA was present in 17 patients, 17 had an associated ventricular septal defect, and the remaining four had a Taussig-Bing anomaly. Hospital mortality was 2 of 38, with 1 late death. Follow-up time varied from 6 to 35 months. Postoperative cardiac catheterization was performed in 34 of the 36 early survivors. Right ventricular outflow tract obstruction with a systolic gradient greater than 20 mmHg was found in four. A residual left-to-right shunt was found in nine; Qp/Qs exceeded 2.0 in only one. In four, the pulmonary-to-systemic resistance ratio calculated was greater than 0.3. All 35 survivors are in excellent condition. Only one patient has slight aortic insufficiency. Most pre- and postoperative electrocardiographic abnormalities disappeared in due course. Echocardiography revealed normal left ventricular dimensions and fractional shortening. The aortic root diameter showed in almost all a value above the 95th percentile of normal. Postoperatively, the aortic root has grown parallel to, but above, the 95th percentile and as yet has shown no tendency to normalization.