Life After Surviving Fontan Surgery: A Meta-Analysis of the Incidence and Predictors of Late Death

Abstract

Aim: We now know that 20–40% of patients with a single ventricle will develop heart failure after the second decade post-Fontan surgery. However, we remain unable to risk-stratify the cohort to identify patients at highest risk of late failure and death. We conducted a systematic review of all reported late outcomes for patients with a Fontan circulation to identify predictors of late death. Methods: We searched MEDLINE, Embase and PubMed with subject terms (“single ventricle” “Hypoplastic left heart syndrome” “congenital heart defects” or “Fontan procedure”) AND (“heart failure” “post-operative complications” “death” “cause of death” “transplantation” or “follow-up studies”) for relevant st..