Evolution of Two Cohorts of Children (Univentricular and Bi-ventricular Heart) After Strapping of the Pulmonary Artery

Pulmonary artery strapping is a surgical technique aimed at providing a palliative treatment to newborns suffering from congenital heart defects, characterized by an increase in blood flow and pulmonary blood pressure.

The intervention consists of placing a band around the pulmonary artery. This band causes an artificial stenosis, therefore inducing a reduction of the pulmonary arterial pressure. It acts as a first step, preparing the ground for a future definitive repair intervention.

It is mainly used in the context of septal defects, atrio-ventricular canal defects or uni-ventricular hearts.

The complications linked to strapping include, among others, the erosion of the band in the artery lumen, its migration and the obstruction of the pulmonary artery, a pulmonary valvular insufficiency, the obstruction of the coronary artery and an ineffective strapping.

The early mortality rate of pulmonary artery strapping after 1980 varies between 1.8% and 13.6%, while strapping readjustment rates oscillate around 20%. It is assumed that the mortality is linked to the nature of the cardial malformation (uni-ventricular or bi-ventricular) rather than the procedure itself.

This retrospective study aims to evaluate the intra-hospital and extra-hospital mortality rate of pulmonary artery strapping, as well as the readjustment rate within two groups of patients: those benefiting from an uni-ventricular cardiac reparation and those benefiting from a bi-ventricular cardiac reparation. The aim is to determine the short term mortality rate of the intervention and the incidence of complications within the hospital, within the two groups.