Objective:

To identify the outcome, long-term patency of the modified Blalock - Taussig shunt (BT) shunt) and to assess the risk factors and complications for the same in infants less than 60 days of age.

Materials and Methods of study:

It is a retrospective study from January 1994 to October 2004 involving 42 infants aged less than 60 days who underwent modified Blalock - Taussig shunt (BT shunt) for various congenital cardiac anomalies with decreased pulmonary blood flow.

Results:

Among the 42 patients (aged less than 60 days) who underwent modified BT shunt from January 1994 to October 2004, 52.3% (n = 22) were males and 47.7% (in = 20) were females. 35 Right Modified BT shunt and 7 Left Modified BT shunts were constructed using 3-5 mm Gore-Tex grafts. The hospital mortality was 23.7% mainly due to postoperative complications such as low cardiac output, shunt overflow, blocked shunt and infections/sepsis.

Conclusion:

Modified Blalock - Taussig shunt offers safe and good palliation in infants with cyanotic congenital heart diseases and the overall shunt patency is about 71% on an interim follow up. A diagnosis of complex cyanotic congenital heart disease appears to be an incremental risk factor for postoperative morbidity.

NCPCC 2005 - Conference Abstracts.Pediatric Oncall [serial online] 2006 [cited 15 May 2006(Supplement 5)];3. Available from:
http://www.pediatriconcall.com/fordoctor/Conference_abstracts/
Blalock_Tausigg_shunt.asp