Side-to-side aorto-Gore-Tex central shunt

Background. This report details our experience in 13 patients with a technical modification of the standard central shunt. Methods. The study was performed using a retrospective chart review approach. In our operation, the aorto-Gore-Tex (W.L. Gore & Assoc, Flagstaff, AZ) anastomosis is created in a side-to-side fashion with the free end of the Gore-Tex shunt being oversewn. Results. All patients had echocardiographic evidence of shunt patency in the immediate postoperative period, and there have been no cases of late shunt occlusion at a mean follow-up period of 10 months. Conclusions. We believe this approach will yield patency rates equivalent to or better than those of the standard central shunt. The technique has the advantage of creating a short, straight-lying shunt that is less likely to kink or be injured on repeated sternotomy and in which now may be more reliable. (C) 1998 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.