Tetralogy of Fallot Repair After Neonatal Right Ventricular Outflow Tract Stenting: Initial Multicenter Experience in Argentina

Initial management of patients with tetralogy of Fallot, unfavorable anatomy, and reduced pulmonary blood flow is controversial and continues to be a clinical challenge. Pulmonary to systemic shunt anastomosis or primary correction in neonates and small infants is associated with higher morbimortality and increased number of reoperations. Initial right ventricle outflow tract stenting palliation has emerged as an attractive alternative. We report our experience in 14 patients operated on with tetralogy of Fallot and previous right ventricle outflow tract stenting from March 2018 to June 2022. All stented patients had pulmonary annulus and main pulmonary artery Z score <= -2.5. Surgical outcomes, complications, and mortality at 30 days were evaluated. Patient's age and weight at surgery were 5.9 months (2-17) and 6.1 kg (3.9-8.9), respectively. Stents were completely removed in 57.1% of patients. A transannular patch was placed in 10 patients, 3 patients required a right ventricle to pulmonary artery conduit due to coronary anomalies and in 1 patient, the pulmonary valve was preserved. Length of stay and ventilation time were 13.6 days (5-27) and 44.8 h (6-44), respectively. Mean time for right ventricle outflow tract stent implantation to surgical correction was 4 months (2-16). There was no mortality, and mean follow-up time of this cohort was 23.1 month (1-41). Surgical correction of severe tetralogy of Fallot after right ventricle outflow tract stenting is an effective alternative achievable without an increase in morbidity and mortality. Difficulty in stent extraction is related to the time since implantation. More number of patients and longer follow-up time are needed to confirm these initial results.