Orthotopic heart transplantation with persistent left superior vena cava draining into coronary sinus: the anterior rerouting technique.

BACKGROUND

We present a surgical technique for a reconstruction of a persistent left superior vena cava draining into the coronary sinus with orthotopic heart transplantation.

METHODS

Between January 2013 and July 2019, a total of 224 patients underwent orthotopic heart transplantation in our institution. Among them, three patients (3/224, 1.3%) had a persistent left superior vena cava draining into the coronary sinus. The persistent left superior vena cava and the coronary sinus was isolated and fully mobilized as an en bloc conduit at the time of explanting the heart. After the standard anastomoses using the bicaval technique, the conduit was routed anterior to the great vessels and anastomosed to the right atrial appendage. A smooth venous drainage into the right atrium from the rerouted persistent left superior vena cava was intraoperatively confirmed by transesophageal echocardiography.

RESULTS

The postoperative course was uneventful in all patients. There were no major postoperative complication and in-hospital mortality. The routed persistent left superior vena cava-coronary sinus conduits were confirmed to be patent without stenosis/obstruction by an enhanced computed tomography. Cardiac biopsies through the reconstructed persistent left superior vena cava were possible without any difficulty.

CONCLUSION

The anterior rerouting technique for a reconstruction of a persistent left superior vena cava draining into the coronary sinus in an orthotopic heart transplantation was feasible and reproducible.