Tetralogy of Fallot with major aortopulmonary collaterals: early total repair

Tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia and major aortopulmonary collaterals is a complex lesion distinguished by marked heterogeneity of pulmonary blood supply. Over the past two decades, investigators have developed various approaches to the management of this anomaly generally based on the concept of staged unifocalization of pulmonary blood supply. Although such approaches may represent an improvement on the natural history of this lesion, they remain inadequate for a substantial portion of patients born with tetralogy of Fallot and major aortopulmonary collaterals. Since 1992, our approach has been to perform one-stage complete unifocalization through a midline approach in all but a few extremely complicated patients. We aim to repair these patients early in infancy, with an emphasis on native tissue-tissue reconstruction, in order to optimize prospects for survival with a good functional outcome in as many patients as possible. In this review, we present our philosophy and our experience with unifocalization and repair in 72 patients.