Reintervention Before Bidirectional Cavopulmonary Shunt and Intermediate Outcomes in Children with Single Ventricle Who Underwent Main Pulmonary Artery Banding

Unplanned reinterventions following pulmonary artery banding (PAB) in single ventricle patients are common before stage 2 palliation (S2P) but associated risk factors are unknown. We hypothesized that reintervention is more common when PAB is placed at younger age and with a looser band, reflected by lower PAB pressure gradient. Retrospective single center study of single ventricle patients undergoing PAB between Jan 2000 and Dec 2020. The association with reintervention and successful S2P was modeled using exploratory cause-specific hazard regression. A multivariable model was developed adjusting for clinical and statistically relevant predictors. The cumulative proportion of patients undergoing reintervention were summarized using a competing risk model. 77 patients underwent PAB at median (IQR) 47 (24–66) days and 3.73 (3.2–4.5) kg. Within18 months of PAB, 60 (78%) reached S2P, 9 (12%) died, 1 (1%) transplanted and 7 (9%) were alive without S2P. Within 18 months of PAB 10 (13%) patients underwent reintervention related to pulmonary blood flow modification: PAB adjustment (n = 6) and conversion to Damus–Kaye–Stansel/Blalock–Taussig–Thomas shunt (n = 4). 6/10 (60%) reached S2P following reintervention. A trend toward higher intervention in patients with a genetic syndrome (p—0.06) and weight < 3 kg (p—0.057) at time of PAB was noted. Only genetic syndrome was a risk factor associated with poor outcome (p—0.025). PAB has a reasonable outcome in SV patients with unobstructed systemic and pulmonary blood flow, but with a high reintervention rate. Only a quarter of patients with genetic syndromes reach S2P and further study is required to explore the benefits from an alternative palliative strategy.