Operative repair for tricuspid atresia.

Twelve patients with tricuspid atresia underwent physiological operative repair. The criteria for their selection for operation included normal pulmonary vascular resistance and normal left atrial and left ventricular end-diastolic pressures. Four patients died (30% mortality). The 8 surviving patients developed pleural effusion, ascites, and hepatomegaly, which markedly improved in the subsequent weeks. Five of the 8 survivors underwent cardiac catheterization. The arterial oxygen saturation in these patients averaged 82% preoperatively, 89% immediately postoperatively, and 94% or better six months later. All had improved subjectively and developed increased exercise tolerance.