Valve-Sparing Tetralogy of Fallot Repair With Intraoperative Dilation of the Pulmonary Valve. Mid-Term Results

Deleterious long-term effects of chronic pulmonary regurgitation after repair of tetralogy of Fallot have become evident during the last decades. Subsequently, some groups have developed strategies to spare the pulmonary valve function at the time of repair with good early results. However, mid-term outcomes are scarce in the literature and in some cases controversial. The aim of our study is to report our results mid-term with valve-sparing repair of tetralogy of Fallot. We retrospectively reviewed patients undergoing tetralogy of Fallot repair and having preservation of the pulmonary valve with intraoperative dilation at our institution. From June 2009 through June 2017, 42 patients underwent valve-sparing tetralogy of Fallot repair. Median age and weight at surgery were 5.2 months and 7.2 kg. Median preoperative pulmonary valve diameters and Z scores by echocardiography were 6.4 mm (range 4.5-11 mm) and -2.3 (range -1.3 to -4.5). No patient died in our series. For a median follow-up of 45 months, the pulmonary valve has grown by Z score (P < 0.0001) as well as the pulmonary trunk (P= 0.00216). Significant pulmonary regurgitation has developed in 9 patients (21.4%). No patient has required reintervention/reoperation for recurrent right ventricular outflow tract obstruction. Patients with tetralogy of Fallot who had valve-sparing repair with intraoperative dilation of the pulmonary valve show good early and mid-term results with respect to right ventricular outflow tract obstruction. The pulmonary valve annulus and the pulmonary trunk grow through follow-up. Progressive development of significant pulmonary regurgitation is seen in more than 20% of patients. Long-term data with this approach and comparison with a population of patients undergoing a transannular patch repair are required to establish the real utility of this approach.