The use of bovine jugular vein in the fontan circulation

Abstract EN

Objective: To report our experience in the use of bovine jugular vein (Contegra) in the completion of single ventricle repair. Methods: This is a prospective study on a selective group of single ventricle patients who underwent total cavopulmonary connection at Queen Alia Heart Institute between July 2002 and April 2003.

All patients had cardiac catheterization preoperatively.

Pressure measurements were taken at different points before and after the procedure.

All patients had an extracardiac connection on cardiopulmonary bypass without cross clamp and anticoagulated using heparin infusion postoperatively for at least 5 days Results: Five patients were enrolled in the study (2-5 years of age), chest tubes drainage were minimal.

Hospital stay was between 1-2 weeks.

There were no evidence of conduit thrombosis, arrhythmias or mortality at three months of follow up. Conclusion: Contegra is a safe extracardiac conduit for the completion of single ventricle repair in selected group of patients.

Its use is time sparing intraoperatively and decreases hospital stay and morbidity postoperatively.

However, its use in a wider range of complex single ventricle patients needs to be evaluated.