Abstract
From August 1982 to December 1991, 58 consecutive infants with tetralogy of Fallot underwent primary repair. Age ranged from 22 days to twelve months [n=58, 8.7$\pm$2.7 months] and body weight from 3.1 to 13 kilograms [n=58, 7.8$\pm$1.7 kilograms]. Qne infant had absence of the pulmonary valve; one had Ebstein`s anomaly and one had supramitral ring. Thirty-two patients [56%] experienced anoxic spell. Preoperative pulmonary artery indices were measured in 38 cases, ranging 126-552mm2/M2BSA[n=38, 251$\pm$79mm2/M2BSA]. All infants required a right ventricular outflow tract patch; in 41, the patch extended across the pulmonary valve annulus, in 13 of them, monocusps were constructed. All had patch closure of ventricular septal defect. Two infants had REV operation for avoiding injury to the canal branch of the right coronary artery which cross the right ventricular out flow tract. Post repair PRV/LV were measured at operating room in 40 cases, which revealed mean value of 0.49$\pm$0.12 [range: 0.25-0.74]. The hospital mortality was 10.3% [6 patients], and causes of deaths were right heart failure due to sustained right ventricular hypertension[4] and right ventricular outflow tract obstruction, intractablesuraventricular tachyarrhythmia[1], hypoxia[1] due to residual right to left shunt across the atrial septal defect in patient associated with Ebstein`s anomaly. All infants were doing well at follow-up from 1 to 101 months[20.6 months /patient, 1, 072 patient-month] Serial postoperative echocardiograms revealed no residual ventricular septal defects and estimated RVOT gradients between 0 and 40 mmHg except 3 cases [50, 50, 60 mmHg]. There were no late deaths and late ventricular arrhythmias or congestive heart failure. Redo operations were done in 2 cases because of residual right ventricular outflow tract obstruction. This experience with infants with tetralogy of Fallot suggests that, if mortality is tolerable, eletive repair of tetralogy of Fallot could be reasonably undertaken during the first year of life, and even better results could be anticipated along with improvement of methods of myocardial protection and postoperative care.
