Long-Term Follow-Up of Right Ventricle to Pulmonary Artery Biologic Valved Conduits Used in Pediatric Congenital Heart Surgery

Valved conduit reconstruction between the right ventricle (RV) and the pulmonary circulation is often necessary in the surgical treatment of complex congenital heart defects. The aim of this study is to evaluate the long-term performance of the three types of conduits we have used and assess risk factors for conduit failure. Retrospective, single-center review of 455 consecutive pediatric patients with 625 conduits from 1990 to 2019 undergoing RV-to-pulmonary artery (PA) reconstruction with a valved conduit. The three conduit types investigated were pulmonary homograft, aorta homograft, and bovine jugular vein (BJV) graft. Overall patient survival was 91.4%, freedom from conduit replacement (FCR) was 47.4%, and freedom from reintervention (FFR) was 37.8% with a median follow-up of 8.7 years (interquartile range 4.3–13.3 years). For pulmonary homografts, 10-, 20-, and 28-year FCR was 79.6%, 68.6%, and 66.0%, respectively. For aortic homografts, 10-, 20-, and 30-year FCR was 49.8%, 31.5%, and 23.0%, respectively. For BJV grafts, 10- and 19-year FCR was 68.1% and 46.0%, respectively. When controlling for baseline variables, FCR was similar for pulmonary homografts and BJV grafts. Overall patient survival was excellent. Risk factors for conduit failure in patients operated with reconstruction of the RV-PA outflow tract included low age, low weight, small conduit size, and certain cardiac diagnoses. There was no evidence for a shorter life span of the second graft. Pulmonary homografts and BJV grafts performed similarly but the risk of endocarditis was greater in the BJV group.