• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.983-988
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• 1995

From January 1983 to December 1994, 48 cyanotic patients were underwent a subclavian artery-pulmonary artery shunt using polytetrafluoroethylene[PTFE for the purpose of improvement of reduced pulmonary blood flow. The diameters of the PTFE used were 4mm[4 cases , 5mm[36 cases , and 6mm[8 cases sizes. The effectiveness of modified Blalock-Taussig shunts was evaluated clinically and angiographically. There were 5 early deaths and 2 late deaths. There were 3 early shunt failures and 5 late shunt failures. The overall graft patency rate was 83.3%. Postoperative hemoglobin was reduced significantly[p = 0.0011 in comparison of the preoperative and postoperative hemoglobin, SaO2, PaO2, and cardiothoracic ratio.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.378-382
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• 1997

To evaulate the effectiveness and risk factors for shunt failure of the Blalock-Taussig shunt in neonates, we analyzed the 21 neonates who were undergone Blalok-Taussig shunt operation at Dong-A University Hospital from December 1991 to Feburary 1996. We evaluated operative mortality, patency of the shunt. and distortion of pulmonary artery. We also determined the risk factors for the shunt failure. Age at operation was from 1 day to 30 days(mean 11.7 days). We ghts were 2.4 to 4.5kg(mean 3.1 kg). The underlying lesions included severe tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary stenosls or atresia(N=11) and single ventricle varieties with. pulmonary stenosis or atresia(N=10). Prostaglandin El was given in 13 neonates prior to operation. The mean preoperative(prior to prostaglandin El therapy) and postoperative arterial oxygen tension were 30.1 mmHg and 46.3 mmHg respectively(P(0.01). The shunt was performed through a left thoracotomy in 11 patients and through a right thoracotomy In 10. A 5 mm graft was used in 15 patients and a 4 mm graft in 6 patients. The incidence of early shunt occlusion was 9.5%(2 patients). The hospital mortality was 9.5%(2 patients with early shunt occlusion). Univariate analysis revealed that body weight of 2.6 kg or less(p=0.021), pulmonary artery size of 3mm or less(p=0.008), and 4 mm graft (p=0.021) were risk factors predictive of early shunt failure. The patency rate of the shunt in hospital survivors was 100% at mean ollow-up of ll.3 months(There was not death or reoperation related to shunt failure). 10 patients were catheterized during postoperative follow-up. There was no significant distorsion of pulmonary artery. So we concluded that the modified Blalock-Taussig shunt in neonates was excellent in the hospital survivors.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.33 no.9
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• pp.716-722
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• 2000

Background: Modified Blalock-Taussig shunt using 3mm or 3.5mm PTFE graft has been performed in patients with small body weight or in candidates for single ventricle palliation. However, there are few reports concerning clinical outcomes in terms of pulmonary artery growth and shunt patency rate after shunt operations using such a small graft. Material and Method: Twenty-five patients rate after shunt operations using 3 or 3.5 mm sized grafts from September 1996 to August 1999. We retrospectively assessed the pulmonary artery growth and the shunt patency rate by reviewing the pre-and post-operative pulmonary angiograms. The risk factors for late death and second shunt operations were also analyzed. To assess the presence of any correlation between body weight and selection of the graft size, regression analysis was done in 81 cases of shunt operations performed during the same period. Result: There were 1(4%) early death and 5(20%) late deaths. The survivors were followed up for an average of 7.34 months. The pulmonary artery index increased significantly from 129$\pm$66$\textrm{mm}^2$/$m^2$ to 213$\pm$114 $\textrm{mm}^2$/$m^2$(p=0.002). The shunt patency rate assessed at postoperative 2, 4, 6 and 8 months were 82.5%, 77%, 73% and 42% respectively with a marked decline between 6 and 8 months. Asplenia was a frequent finding for the patients with late death although the incidence failed to reach statistical significance(p=0.078). Pre-operative diagnosis of PA with VSD was found to be a statistically significant risk factor for a second shunt operation(p=0.01). Body weight(a) at operation and graft size(b) used in the shunt operations revealed strong correlation and could be expressed by the following formula; b=0.128a + 3.233. Conclusion: Adequate growth of pulmonary artery and satisfactory early patency rate could be obtained by modified Blalock-Taussing shunt using 3mm or 3.5mm graft. However, during 6 to 8 months after shunt operations, the patency rate fell sharply, which implicates that close observation and early intervention are mandatory in this period.