Atrioventricular valve repair in patients with functional single ventricle.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate surgical repair of atrioventricular valve regurgitation in patients with functional single ventricle.

METHODS: The medical records of 65 consecutive patients with functional single ventricle who underwent atrioventricular valve repair between January 1999 and October 2008 were reviewed retrospectively. Their characteristics were as follows: median age, 9.5 months; median weight, 6.0 kg; atrial isomerism, 31 patients; and hypoplastic left heart syndrome, 12 patients. Regurgitation was repaired at the palliative, Glenn, and Fontan stage in 21, 29, and 15 patients, respectively.

RESULTS: The overall survival was 79% and 70% at 1 and 5 years, respectively. The risk factors for mortality were age less than 3 months (P < .001), body weight less than 4 kg (P < .001), hypoplastic left heart syndrome (P = .001), concomitant Norwood (P < .001), and the palliative stage (P = .004) on the univariate analysis, and body weight less than 4 kg (P = .010, hazard ratio, 9.8; 95% confidence interval, 1.7-55.6) on the multivariate analysis. Twenty patients underwent reoperation (repairs in 15; replacements in 5), and freedom from reoperation at 1 and 5 years was 69% and 57%, respectively. Concomitant systemic-to-pulmonary shunt (P = .040) was a risk factor for reoperation on the univariate analysis. Of the 48 survivors, 38 underwent Fontan completion, 7 underwent the Glenn procedure, and 3 are awaiting the Glenn procedure.

CONCLUSIONS: The midterm results of atrioventricular valve repair in patients with functional single ventricle were favorable; however, young and small patients, especially those with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, still had poor outcomes.