[Treatment of congenital heart diseases with pulmonary artery cerclage. Immediate and medium term results in 51 patients].

The aim of this study was to assess the results of pulmonary artery banding in a retrospective study of 51 consecutive children treated from January 1980 to December 1993. The study population was 24 girls and 27 boys with an average age of 6.2 months, of average weight of 4.01 kg. The cardiac conditions treated were ventricular septal defects in 24 cases (isolated and associated with one or more cardiovascular malformations or multiple), complete atrioventricular canal in 12 cases (isolated or associated with several cardiovascular malformations), single ventricle in 7 cases, double outlet right ventricle in 3 cases, transposition of the great arteries with ventricular septal defect in 2 cases, tricuspid atresia in 2 cases, and a complex lesion with double discordance in one case. The average duration of banding was 2.35 years (n = 49). Hospital morality of banding was 1.9% (1/51). Late mortality was 14.8% (7/47). Twenty-one patients (42.8%) had complications of banding. The survival rates of children who underwent banding was 86.8% at 1 year and 80.6% at 11 years. The low hospital mortality leaves a role for pulmonary artery banding as a palliative procedure in congenital heart disease in which early correction is impossible or carries and unacceptable risk. Complications of banding justify attempts to improve the technique, by making adjustable bands.