Reconstruction of right ventricular outflow tract by autologous pericardial tri-semilunar valve with sinus of Valsalva: report of a case with absent pulmonary valve.

The choice of a valved conduit or a valve in the right ventricular outflow tract remains a problem. We propose to reconstruct the pulmonary valve inside the patient's own pulmonary trunk by autologous pericardium in tri-semilunar fashion with concomitant formation of the sinus of Valsalva and commissure. This operation was carried out on a 7-year-old girl suffering from Fallot's tetralogy with an absent pulmonary valve. The ventricular septal defect was repaired and the pulmonary valve reconstructed as above. The postoperative cross-sectional echocardiogram, color Doppler echocardiogram and angiogram showed a pliable tri-semilunar valve across the pulmonary outflow tract without regurgitation. It is concluded that firstly, the sinus of Valsalva is indispensable for a stentless semilunar valve to be competent; secondly, reconstruction of the semilunar valve inside the pulmonary trunk by autologous pericardium is recommended for the absent pulmonary valve syndrome, but the long-term fate of this pericardial valve awaits further evaluation.