Tailoring stents to fit the anatomy of unique vascular stenoses in congenital heart disease.

Background: Unique and small anatomical features often preclude the use of available vascular stents in pediatric patients with congenital heart disease (CHD).

Objectives: To report our experience and outcomes tailoring stents to fit unique anatomy, particularly in small children and infants with CHD.

Methods: Stent tailoring techniques included trimming, folding, and flaring. Patients receiving a tailored stent November 2002 to February 2015 were included in a retrospective analysis.

Results: Forty-one tailored stents were implanted in 30 patients with median age and weight of 0.8 years (6 days to 17 years) and 8.1 kg (2.9-47.9 kg). Thirty stents were placed intraoperatively and 11 percutaneously. Sites included branch pulmonary arteries (BPA; n = 32), pulmonary veins (n = 6), SVC (n = 1), and the ventricular septum (n = 2). Twenty-three (56%) stents were trimmed with or without folding to avoid jailing of side branches, 16 (39%) stents were folded or flared with or without trimming to avoid excessive proximal protrusion, and two (5%) stents were folded back at both ends for implantation in ventricular septal defects. Final stent lengths were 6-15 mm. Minimal vessel diameters increased from 2.8 ± 1.4 mm to 6.7 ± 2.6 mm (P < 0.001). Complications included two intraoperative BPA tears, three pinhole balloon leaks, two intraoperative stent dislodgements, one transient heart block, and one lung reperfusion injury. Follow-up catheterization included 36 re-dilations and implantation of four additional stents over a median of 4.1 years. In-stent restenosis was the indication in 25 (69.4%) re-interventions.

Conclusion: Tailored stents can be safely implanted to fit unique anatomy in small patients. Re-interventions can effectively treat restenosis and accommodate ongoing vessel growth.