[Balloon (Rashkind) atrio-septostomy in transposition of great vessels in the neonatal period]

Analysis of the balloon atrial septostomy (BA) for treatment of the transposition of the great arteries (TVG) during the neonatal period will allow the evaluation of some of the changes that have occurred in the diagnosis and therapy of this congenital cardiopathy. We performed a retrospective survey of the management, evolution complications of 24 BA as a palliative technique in TGV cases, admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit during a 5 1/2 year period. The aim of the study was to evaluate the factors that indicated a bad prognosis by comparing patients that are still alive (21) with those that are dead (3). The mean age at BA performance was 4.5 +/- 5.5 days. The biological constants prior to catheterization were normal, maintaining good oxygenation, administering prostaglandins in 80% of the patients and mechanical ventilation in 25% of the patients. BA outcome was considered as good in 68%, moderate in 12% and bad in 20% of the cases. Intra-catheterization complications, mainly hemorrhages and bradycardia, were suffered by 40% of the patients and one patient died during catheterization. We could see a progressive arterial desaturation due to the lack of efficacy of the BA. As bad post-catheterization outcome factors were found: hypotension, arrhythmia, hemorrhage, greater need of dobutamine, volume expansion and mechanical ventilation. Our principal conclusion is that, although BA has improved the prognosis of newborns with TGV, because of the progressive worsening of the patients during the months following the BA, it is necessary to perform early corrective surgery.