Pulmonary artery banding.

Between January 1981 and December 1983 22 children underwent pulmonary artery banding at the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town. The indications for banding in this group were control of pulmonary overperfusion and severe congestive cardiac failure. The underlying cardiac defects were tricuspid atresia with ventricular septal defect (VSD), transposition of the great arteries and univentricular heart, large or multiple VSDs, double-outlet right ventricle, atrioventricular canal defect, persistent truncus arteriosus and the VSD-patent ductus arteriosus-coarctation syndrome. Three children died (13,6%) in the first 30 days postoperatively and another 3 died 5-7 weeks after surgery.