Systemic right ventricular morphology in the early postoperative course after extracardiac Fontan operation: is there still a need for special care?

Objectives: We aimed to compare early postoperative outcome after extracardiac (EC) Fontan operation between patients with right (RV) or left (LV) systemic ventricles.

Methods: In total, 173 consecutive patients (median age 4 years, median weight 14 kg) underwent EC Fontan between 1995 and 2013. Pre- and intraoperative data as well as detailed postoperative haemodynamic variables were compared between patients with LV [ n  = 109 (63%)] and RV [ n  = 64 (37%)].

Results: : RV patients showed significantly lower mean arterial (median 55 vs 59 mmHg, P  = 0.04), higher atrial (median 8 vs 6 mmHg, P  = 0.03) and comparable pulmonary pressure (median 14 vs 14 mmHg, P  = 0.7) as well as lower mean systemic perfusion pressure (median 39 vs 43 mmHg, P  = 0.03) on Day 0 after EC Fontan. They suffered from longer intubation time (median 18 vs 12 h, P  = 0.008), higher incidence of ascites (46% vs 28%, P  = 0.04) and need for dialysis (21% vs 4%, P  = 0.003). Prolonged inotropic support (25% vs 8%, P  = 0.02) and pharmacological treatment to reduce pulmonary vascular resistance (71% vs 53%, P  = 0.002) were more often used in RV patients and they showed more often supraventricular tachyarrhythmia (27% vs 5%, P  < 0.001) and a longer intensive care unit-stay (median 4 vs 3 days, P  = 0.03). However, early mortality, need for Fontan takedown, use of mechanical circulatory support, pleural effusions and hospital stay were not significantly different between both groups.

Conclusions: Patients with systemic RV demonstrate higher morbidity in the early postoperative course compared with patients with systemic LV anatomy and require intensified postoperative management to avoid postoperative Fontan failure.