Abstract: | Background: Infants with ductal-dependent pulmonary blood flow (PBF) often undergo a palliative procedure to provide a stable source of PBF prior to definitive palliation or repair. In the current era, a surgical shunt or ductal stent is used to provide
PBF. We aimed to review the current literature comparing ductal stents to surgical
shunts.
Methods and Results: Four small, single-center studies and two larger multicenter
studies were identified comparing ductal stent to surgical shunt. Combined, these
studies showed ductal stent resulted in similar or improved pulmonary artery growth,
fewer complications, shorter length of stay, less diuretic use, and improved survival
compared to surgical shunt. Despite inherent minor variability among the studies,
ductal stent appears to be associated with more frequent reinterventions.
Conclusions: Surgical shunts remain essential to the care of these patients, but ductal
stent is a reasonable alternative, and may provide some advantages in select patients
with ductal-dependent PBF. |