Surgical strategies to facilitate heart transplantation in children after failed univentricular palliations: The role of advanced intraoperative surgical preparation

Abstract

Objectives: Heart transplantation in children after univentricular palliation is a technical challenge. As the national referral centre for heart transplantation in children, we review national trends in transplantation and describe technical innovations used in the current era. Methods: Children undergoing heart transplantation were separated into patients with (i) structural congenital heart disease (sCHD; subdivided into univentricular and biventricular) and (ii) cardiomyopathy (CM). The operation notes and surgeons' diagrams were reviewed with particular attention to surgical innovations introduced after 2000. Results: Between January 1988 and December 2012, 111 primary transplantations ..