Right ventricle–pulmonary artery conduit with intake port in the Norwood procedure

Abstract

The surgical management of hypoplastic left heart syndrome has been evolving rapidly over recent years. Norwood stage I palliation using a right ventricle-pulmonary artery (RV-PA) conduit instead of the modified Blalock-Taussig shunt has a theoretic advantage: The higher diastolic pressure and coronary perfusion pressure in the right ventricle compared with the systemic artery may result in more stable early postoperative hemodynamics. 1 However, several ventriculotomy-related complications may occur with this technique, including impaired ventricular function, reobstruction, pseudoaneurysm formation, and arrhythmia. 2 To prevent this, we developed a novel method for proximal conduit anastomosis, involving the use of an intake port, without the need for myocardial resection.