Forty years ago, Fontan and Baudet performed the first life-saving operation on a patient with a functionally single ventricle. This multi-stage procedure established the connection between systemic venous circulation and pulmonary arteries. As a consequence, the pulmonary circulation is supplied in a passive way, whereas the single ventricle pumps the blood into the systemic circulation only. ...

during a period of four years between june, is, 1988 to june, is, 1992 one hundred and fourteen patients with congestive heart failure (chf) were admitted to the pediatric department of taleghani general hospital. during the above period, 192 patients with heart disease were hospitalized at this department and chf was the cause of admission in 59.4% of them. congenital heart disease (cho) was t...

The assessment of the patient with a single ventricle is an enormous challenge to medical science. Not only are there are varied types of single ventricles, nearly all patients require either heart replacement or reconstructive surgery, including an aortic to pulmonary connection. During the various phases of reconstructive surgeries which eventually leads to the Fontan procedure (1), there are...

AIMS Protein losing enteropathy is a serious complication of Fontan surgery. The aim of this study was to investigate gastro-intestinal protein loss in adults with congenital heart disease, both with and without Fontan surgery, and to correlate findings with systemic venous pressure. METHODS AND RESULTS Forty eight patients were studied. The first group included adult survivors of Fontan surg...