Long-Term Fate of the Truncal Valve

From Other Journals: A Review of Recent Articles by Our Editorial Team

In this review, we provide a brief description of recently published articles addressing topics relevant to pediatric cardiologists. Our hope is to provide a summary of the latest articles published recently in other journals in our field. The articles reviewed in this manuscript address (1) long-term fate of the truncal valve, (2) comparison of combined heart‒liver vs heart-only transplantation in pediatric and young adult Fontan recipients showing non-inferior survival of heart-liver transplant in a small sample, (3) impact of palliation strategy on interstage feeding and somatic growth for infants with ductal-dependent pulmonary blood flow showing no difference in growth between ductal stenting and Blalock-Taussig shunt, (4) biventricular repair in interrupted aortic arch and ventricular septal defect with a small left ventricular outflow tract, (5) a randomized controlled trial comparing controlled reoxygenation and standard cardiopulmonary bypass in pediatric cardiac surgery, and (6) tricuspid valve and right ventricular function throughout the hybrid palliation strategy for hypoplastic left heart syndrome and variants.

Long-Term Fate of the Truncal Valve

Background Long-term survival in patients with truncus arteriosus is favorable, but there remains significant morbidity associated with ongoing reinterventions. We aimed to study the long-term outcomes of the truncal valve and identify risk factors associated with truncal valve intervention. Methods and Results We retrospectively reviewed patients who underwent initial truncus arteriosus repair at our institution from 1985 to 2016. Analysis was performed on the 148 patients who were discharged from the hospital and survived ≥30 days postoperatively using multivariable competing risks Cox regression modeling. Median follow-up time was 12.6 years (interquartile range, 5.0-22.1 years) after discharge from full repair. Thirty patients (20%) underwent at least one intervention on the truncal valve during follow-up. Survival at 1, 10, and 20 years was 93.1%, 87.0%, and 80.9%, respectively. The cumulative incidence of any truncal valve intervention by 20 years was 25.6%. Independent risk factors for truncal valve intervention included moderate or greater truncal valve regurgitation (hazard ratio [HR], 4.77; P<0.001) or stenosis (HR, 4.12; P<0.001) before full truncus arteriosus repair and moderate or greater truncal valve regurgitation at discharge after full repair (HR, 8.60; P<0.001). During follow-up, 33 of 134 patients (25%) progressed to moderate or greater truncal valve regurgitation. A larger truncal valve root z-score before truncus arteriosus full repair and during follow-up was associated with worsening truncal valve regurgitation. Conclusions Long-term rates of truncal valve intervention are significant. At least moderate initial truncal valve stenosis and initial or residual regurgitation are independent risk factors associated with truncal valve intervention. Larger truncal valve root z-score is associated with significant truncal valve regurgitation and may identify a subset of patients at risk for truncal valve dysfunction over time.