Systemic-pulmonary polytetrafluoroethylene shunts in palliative operations for congenital heart disease. Revival of the central shunt.

The concept of central shunting in smaller children with the Waterston shunt was initially well accepted. It has been abandoned because of the difficult estimation of lumen size, preferential flow to the right side, and difficulty in the take-down of the shunt. We have replaced the Waterston shunt with a short segment of polytetrafluoroethylene between the ascending aorta and the main pulmonary artery. From January 1979 to December 1986, 190 shunt operations were performed in 157 patients, with the use of 26 classic Blalock-Taussig shunts (13.7%), six Waterston shunts (3.1%), nine Glenn shunts (4.7%), 80 central aortopulmonary polytetrafluoroethylene shunts (42.2%), and 69 modified Blalock-Taussig shunts (36.3%). Polytetrafluoroethylene grafts were used for 149 of the 190 (78.4%) shunts. Overall mortality was 15.2%, with nine early deaths (4.7%) and 20 late deaths (10.5%). Deaths were due to the complex nature of the congenital anomaly or definitive surgical repair. The patients weighed from 1.6 to 48 kg and ages ranged from 1 day to 22 years. We have modified our technique so that (1) graft length is less than 0.5 cm and both ends are beveled, (2) the aortotomy is fashioned with a punch, (3) the center of the polytetrafluoroethylene graft is never clamped, (4) heparin is given during the construction of the shunt, and (5) aspirin (10 mg/kg/day) is administered daily. Patency ranges from 1 to 4 years. We conclude that the polytetrafluoroethylene shunt provides excellent palliation and that the central shunt, in the smaller child and infant, offers the benefits of shunting without distortion of the peripheral pulmonary arteries.