Hemi-Fontan and bidirectional Glenn operations result in flow-mediated viscous energy loss at the time of stage II palliation.

BACKGROUND

Superior cavopulmonary connection (SCPC) for stage II palliation of hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) is achieved most frequently by either a bidirectional Glenn (BDG) or hemi-Fontan (HF) operation. The comparison of flow hemodynamic efficiency at the region of surgical reconstruction and in proximal pulmonary arteries has been evaluated primarily using computational modeling techniques with conflicting reports. The purpose of this descriptive study was to compare flow hemodynamics following stage II (BDG vs HF) using 4-dimensional flow magnetic resonance imaging (4D-Flow MRI) with particular focus on flow-mediated viscous energy loss (EL') under matched hemodynamic conditions.

METHODS

Patients with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) who underwent either HF or BDG as part of stage II palliation underwent pre-Fontan 4D-Flow MRI. Patients were matched by the pulmonary vascular resistance index, net superior vena cava (SVC) flow, right pulmonary artery (RPA) and left pulmonary artery (LPA) size, and age. Maximum EL' throughout the cardiac cycle was calculated along the SVC-RPA and SVC-LPA tracts.

RESULTS

Eight patients who underwent HF as part of their stage II single ventricle palliation were matched with 8 patients who underwent BDG. There were no differences between the 2 groups in median volumetric indices, including end-diastolic volume (P = .278) and end-systolic volume (P = .213). Moreover, no differences were observed in ejection fraction (P = .091) and cardiac index (P = .324). There also were no differences in peak EL' measured along the SVC-RPA tract (median, 0.05 mW for HF vs 0.04 mW for BDG; P = .365) or along the SVC-LPA tract (median, 0.05 mW vs 0.04 mW; P = .741).

CONCLUSIONS

The second stage of surgical palliation of HLHS using either HF or BDG results in similar flow-mediated viscous energy loss throughout the SCPC junction. 4D-Flow MRI and computational methods should be applied together to investigate flow hemodynamic patterns throughout the Fontan palliation and overall efficiency of the Fontan circuit.