Growing potential of small aortic valve with aortic coarctation or interrupted aortic arch after bilateral pulmonary artery banding.

Objectives: Bilateral pulmonary artery banding (bPAB) is utilized for some patients with a ventricular septal defect (VSD) and aortic coarctation (CoA) or interrupted aortic arch (IAA). We evaluated aortic valve (AoV) diameter and patient outcomes following bPAB.

Methods: Between August 2010 and September 2015, 10 consecutive patients with VSD and patent ductus arteriosus-dependent CoA or IAA underwent bPAB because of an AoV diameter of approximately <50% of the normal value (n = 6), severe subaortic stenosis and poor patient condition (n = 1, respectively), or low birthweight (n = 2).

Results: Second-stage operations were conventional total repair in five and Damus-Kaye-Stansel anastomosis, aortic arch reconstruction and right ventricle-pulmonary artery shunt (modified Norwood) type repair in five. After modified Norwood-type repair, four patients were Yasui-type repair candidates and one was a Fontan candidate. For all patients, the mean AoV diameter increased from 3.7 ± 0.7 mm before bPAB to 4.6 ± 0.8 mm before the second-stage operation. In five patients with CoA or IAA type A, the AoV diameter significantly increased from 3.5 ± 0.3 mm to 4.5 ± 0.5 mm during the term between bPAB and the second-stage operation, with an AoV Z-score increase from -5.82 ± 0.92 to -4.28 ± 0.86. IAA type B showed a slight increase in the AoV diameter.

Conclusions: Initial palliation with bPAB enables AoV diameter growth in some patients, improving the likelihood of conventional total repair adaptation rate, particularly for CoA or IAA type A.