[Calcified EPTFE vascular prosthesis in the Blalock-Taussig shunt after 4 years of implantation: a case report].

A boy was born with asplenia, complete endocardial cushion defect, pulmonary atresia and transposition of great vessels. Modified Blalock-Taussig (BT) shunt procedure to the right pulmonary artery was performed using an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (EPTFE) vascular graft three days after born in 1990. At one year old, left BT-shunt procedure was also performed. At four years old (1994), bi-directional Glenn procedure was performed. At that time, a piece of the EPTFE graft in the BT-shunt at the pulmonary anastomosis, was removed and observed macroscopically and microscopically. It was patent with a neointima and thrombi. Microscopically, multiple calcified legions and many macrophages were found in the graft wall. Thrombi on the graft lumen, which were suspected to be formed different occasions, were observed. A thin neointima with an endothelial cell layer near the anastomosis was remarkable. To our knowledge, this is the first report of such calcified lesions in the EPTFE vascular graft wall within 4 years in the BT-shunt position in an infant.