Right ventricular volume characteristics before and after palliative and reparative operation in tetralogy of Fallot.

Right heart volume data were obtained in 63 patients with tetralogy of Fallot. The patients were divided into three groups: 1) preoperative tetralogy (N=34); 2) post shunt procedure (N=14); 3A) post repair without outflow patch (N=10); 3B) post repair with an outflow patch (N=8). In Group 1 right ventricular end-diastolic volume (RVEDV), RV ejection fraction (EF), and RV systolic output (SO) were all mildly depressed. In post shunt patients, RVEDV was normal but RVEF remained depressed. RVEDV and RVSO increased following a shunt procedure, and these variables were larger in patients with a large versus a small shunt. In Group 3A RVEDV, RVEF, and RVSO were normal. In contrast in patients in Group 3B, RVEDV was increased averaging 177 +/- 15% of normal RVEF was depressed averaging 0.45 +/- 0.04, and RVSO was normal. RV size and pump function are abnormal in patients whose operation requires an outflow tract patch and the factors which may contribute to these abnormalities include a higher RV peak pressure, pulmonary incompetence, and a larger noncontractile outflow tract. Longitudinal studies relating these variables to clinical performance and exercise testing will be important in assessment of the importance of these abnormalities.