CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE Improved early ventricular performance with a right ventricle to pulmonary artery conduit in stage 1 palliation for hypoplastic left heart syndrome: evidence from strain Doppler echocardiography

Objective: To quantify non-invasively right ventricular (RV) performance in infants after stage 1 palliation for hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). Design: Prospective, observational study with two dimensional and strain Doppler echocardiography. Setting: Single tertiary paediatric cardiology centre. Patients: Convenience sample of nine consecutive infants with HLHS. Four whose surgery involved a systemic to pulmonary artery (S-PA) shunt were compared with five whose surgery incorporated a right ventricle to pulmonary artery (RV-PA) conduit. Methods: Basal RV free wall longitudinal strain rate, systolic strain (e), and RV percentage area change were calculated during a single assessment between 27–50 days after surgery. Results: Cardiopulmonary bypass time was longer in patients who underwent RV-PA (226 (30) minutes v 181 (18) minutes, p = 0.03), but cross clamp time, duration of ventilation, and inotrope use did not differ. Two patients in the S-PA group died, on days 29 and 60 after surgery. Peak systolic strain rate (21.24 (0.19)/s v 20.91 (0.21)/s, p = 0.048), peak e (217.8 (1.8)% v –13.4 (2.0)%, p = 0.01), and RV percentage area change (56 (6)% v 25 (6)%, p , 0.01) were all greater among RV-PA patients. These indices also tended to be greater in survivors as a group. Ventricular loading conditions (oxygen saturations, diuretic treatment, and blood pressure) were similar in both groups. Conclusion: Strain Doppler echocardiography shows improved RV longitudinal systolic contractility in patients during convalescence after the RV-PA modification of stage 1 palliation for HLHS compared with those with an S-PA shunt.