Pulmonary Artery Branch Stent Implantation in Congenital Heart Disease: A 10-Year Multicenter Experience

Background: Stent implant is considered the treatment of choice for most cases of congenital or postoperative pulmonary artery branch stenosis in patients with congenital heart defects. However, there are still doubts on the clinical effectiveness and the incidence of complications of this technique that need to be elucidated.Methods: This multicenter study has a descriptive, observational and retrospective design. The procedures were performed between January 2005 and April 2015. Twenty-five patients with pulmonary artery branch stenosis underwent stent implant and were followed-up both clinically and by different imaging tests. Persistent clinical and/or anatomic improvement defined clinicaleffectiveness.Results: Average age was 9.48 years (2 months-34 years), mean weight was 27.54 kg (3-104 kg) and 44% were women. The most frequent congenital heart defects in the treated cohort were tetralogy of Fallot and its variants, followed by single ventricle heart physiology after bidirectional Glenn shunt and/or Fontan-Kreutzer procedures. Right ventricular systolic and pulmonary artery pressure decreased significantly after the intervention (from 68.35 mmHg to 45.8 mmHg and from 47.4 mm Hg to 32 mm Hg, respectively) (p < 0.0001). The initial minimum diameter of the treated pulmonary artery branch increased significantly after the procedure (from 3.98 mm to 9.82 mm, p < 0.0001). The incidence of complications was 8% (n = 2) and the clinical effectiveness of the procedure was good in 22 patients (88%).Conclusions: Stent implant in pulmonary artery branch stenosis is a safe and feasible though challenging technique, with significant clinical and anatomic improvement. The procedure represents an alternative to surgery and decreases the need for reinterventions in patients with congenital heart defects.