Burden of reintervention after tetralogy of Fallot repair: A joint pediatric and adult congenital experience over 30 years.

OBJECTIVE

There is a high burden of reintervention after repair of tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). We compare procedural burden and late outcomes in valve-sparing repair (VSR) and transannular patch (TAP) cohorts over 30 years.

METHODS

Patients undergoing TOF repair (1990-2021, excluding complex TOF) were included in this study (n = 1239) with subsequent comparisons between TAP (n = 550) and VSR (n = 648) cohorts. Descriptive statistics, cumulative incidence frequencies, survival analysis, and propensity matching (n = 425) were used to analyze reintervention burden and survival.

RESULTS

Overall survival of the cohort was 96.7% at 15 years and 95.6% at 25 years, with similar survival between TAP and VSR cohorts (P = .22). The TAP cohort had increased incidence of procedural burden at 25 years (TAP 69.8% vs VSR 37.2%; P < .001), with 34.6% undergoing ≥2 reinterventions. The TAP cohort had higher incidence of surgical pulmonary valve replacement at 15 years (TAP 20.7% vs VSR 7.6%; P < .001) and placement of pulmonary artery stents (TAP 20.2% vs VSR 4.9%; P < .001). By contrast, VSR had higher incidence of right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) reoperation at 15 years (VSR 7.3% vs TAP 3.6%; P = .047). After propensity score matching there was no survival advantage between the VSR and TAP cohorts (Era 2), whereas the need for RVOT reoperation was not different between the 2 cohorts (P = .060).

CONCLUSIONS

The procedural burden remains high following TOF repair. TAP is associated with higher procedural burden in matched and nonmatched cohorts. VSR has increased risk of reoperation for RVOT obstruction only in nonmatched comparisons. Anatomical complexity and surgical repair strategy influence procedural burden following TOF repair.