Is Shunt Better or Stent for Babies With Heart Disease?

Highlights

Congenital heart diseases in infants require a stable source of blood flow to their lungs in order to survive
The most common methods to provide that flow either a shunt to reroute blood or an implanted stent to maintain blood flow path
Patients with stents had better outcomes such as fewer complications, shorter ICU stays, less frequent need for diuretics etc

Babies with moderate to severe congenital heart disease usually require adequate blood supply to the lungs for survival, until proper surgery plan is adopted.

In a recent study, pediatric researchers compared two methods to provide that flow: a shunt to reroute blood and an implanted stent to maintain an open path for blood flow.

Congenital Heart Disease – Septal Defects
Heart diseases that are present at birth are called “ Congenital heart diseases”.

‘The ductus arteriosus must stay open to allow a stable blood flow to infants with congenital heart disease’

The surgical Blalock-Taussig (BT) shunt has historically been the more common procedure for infants with ductal-dependent pulmonary blood flow, while the transcatheter patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) stent became available in 1992 as an alternative for these patients.

In ductal-dependent pulmonary blood flow, the ductus arteriosus must stay open to allow for stable blood flow, while in most healthy infants it closes shortly after birth.

"Our findings support PDA stents over BT shunt placement for selected patients with this condition, particularly in experienced centers where this procedure can be performed safely and effectively," said study leader Andrew Glatz, MD, MSCE, a pediatric cardiologist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).

Patent Ductus Arteriosus
Patent Ductus Arteriosus is a congenital defect of the heart where the fetal passage between pulmonary artery and aorta remains open and causes excess pulmonary blood flow.

The researchers performed a retrospective cohort study of 106 PDA stent and 251 BT shunt patients with ductal-dependent pulmonary blood flow and confluent pulmonary arteries who were treated at less than 1 year of age in the four member centers of the Congenital Catheterization Research Collaborative over a seven-year period.

After adjustment for differences in patient characteristics between the two groups, there was no difference in the rate of deaths or re-interventions to treat low blood oxygen saturation between the procedures.

Recent Advancements in Cardiac Surgery
Cardiac surgery is a formidable field in treating congenital heart diseases, valve replacements, atrial fibrillation, and coronary heart disease.

However, patients with stents had better outcomes in other areas: fewer complications from the procedure, shorter stays in the intensive care unit, less frequent need for diuretics, and larger and more symmetric pulmonary arteries at the time of subsequent surgery. Other, non-urgent re-interventions were more common in the PDA stent group.

"We need further research to identify specific anatomic characteristics of patients that would be most likely to benefit from PDA stent placement," added Glatz.

Cyanotic Heart Disease - Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment
Cyanotic heart disease is a group of congenital heart defects which occurs due to deoxygenated blood bypassing the lungs and entering the systemic circulation.

Reference

Andrew C. Glatz, Christopher J. Petit, Bryan H. Goldstein, Michael S. Kelleman, Courtney E. McCracken, Alicia McDonnell, Timothy Buckey, Christopher E. Mascio, Subi Shashidharan, R. Allen Ligon, Jingning Ao, Wendy Whiteside, W. Jack Wallen, Christina M. Metcalf, Varun Aggarwal, Hitesh Agrawal, Athar M. Qureshi. A Comparison Between Patent Ductus Arteriosus Stent and Modified Blalock-Taussig Shunt as Palliation for Infants with Ductal-Dependent Pulmonary Blood Flow: Insights From the Congenital Catheterization Research Collaborative, Circulation (2017). https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.117.029987

Source-Eurekalert