Pulmonary valvotomy under normothermic caval inflow occlusion.

Pulmonary valve stenosis may require urgent surgical relief in infancy or elective valvotomy in childhood. A retrospective study has been made of 94 children who underwent pulmonary valvotomy for pulmonary valve stenosis between 1972 and 1983 using the technique of normothermic caval inflow occlusion. There were no early deaths nor late deaths. The group included 13 neonates less than 1 week old and 14 other infants under 1 year of age. The mean follow-up is 45 months. No child has had a second valvotomy for recurrent valvar stenosis. Two children have required re-operation for placement of a transannular right ventricular outflow patch for hypoplastic pulmonary annulus. Neonates who present early with critical pulmonary valve stenosis may remain moderately to severely cyanosed for several days after a satisfactory valvotomy but this is almost invariably followed by a progressive increase in oxygen saturation to an acceptable level. One neonate, who had a Blalock-Taussig shunt at 2 weeks of age for persistent postvalvotomy cyanosis, had the shunt ligated at 2 years. Pulmonary valvotomy under normothermic caval inflow occlusion is a safe, cost-effective technique which provides excellent early and late haemodynamic results. This operation sets a standard against which the newly introduced technique of percutaneous balloon pulmonary valvotomy should be assessed.