Results of balloon dilatation of stenotic homografts in pulmonary position in children and young adults

Objectives To evaluate the results of balloon dilatation of stenotic homografts in children, adolescents, and young adults and to identify factors that might influence or predict the effect of the dilatation. Background Homografts are widely used in congenital cardiac surgery; however, the longevity remains a problem mostly because of stenosis in the homograft. The effect of treatment by balloon dilatation is unclear. Methods In a retrospective study, the effect of balloon dilatation was determined by the percentage of reduction of the peak systolic pressure gradient over the homograft during catheterisation and the postponement of re-intervention or replacement of the homograft in months. Successful dilatations - defined in this study as a reduction of more than 33% and postponement of more than 18 months - were compared with unsuccessful dilatations in search of factors influencing or predicting the results. Results The mean reduction of the peak systolic pressure gradient was 30% in 40 procedures. Re-intervention or replacement of the homograft was postponed by a mean of 19 months. In all, 14 balloon dilatations (35%) were successful; the mean reduction was 49% and the mean postponement was 34 months. The time since homograft implantation, the presence of calcification, the homograft/balloon ratio, and the pressure applied during dilatation all tended to correlate with outcome, but were not statistically significant. Conclusions Balloon dilatation is able to reduce the peak systolic pressure gradient over homografts in a subgroup of patients and can be of clinical significance to postpone re-intervention or pulmonary valve replacement.

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