What are the side effects of the Fontan procedure?
Complications of Fontan circulation include exercise intolerance, ventricular failure, right atrium dilatation and arrhythmia, systemic and hepatic venous hypertension, portal hypertension, coagulopathy, pulmonary arteriovenous malformation, venovenous shunts, and lymphatic dysfunction (eg, ascites, edema, effusion.
Why does Fontan cause liver damage?
Patients who undergo the Fontan operation as children for a complex congenital heart defect are at risk of developing progressive liver fibrosis, a buildup of fibrous deposits, as a result of the circulation created by the surgery, according to a new study.
How successful is Fontan procedure?
A review of 86 patients who underwent Fontan procedures at Mayo Clinic and who received 152 direct current cardioversions for treatment of atrial arrhythmias, published in International Journal of Cardiology in April 2016, showed that cardioversion was successful in 73 percent of the patients, and the success rate was …
What happens when Fontan fails?
Late Fontan failure may present insidiously over years. It is a failure of medical management to interpret the absence of overt symptoms or ascites as evidence of optimal haemodynamic status in the functionally univentricular circulation.
When do you do the Fontan procedure?
The Fontan procedure is the third stage of the repair. It is done when the child is between 18 months and 2 years of age. A heart catheterization is done before the Fontan.
How long does Fontan surgery take?
How long does the Fontan procedure take? This surgical procedure usually takes about four hours to perform. There are not as many risks following this surgery as are seen with the Norwood procedure. The amount of time your child will need to be in the hospital is usually around 10 to 14 days.
Why can’t you have a Fontan procedure at birth?
Because there is no ventricular contraction to pump blood through the lungs, elevated pulmonary artery pressure is an absolute contraindication for the Fontan procedure. Therefore, because of the normal high pulmonary vascular resistance in newborns, it is not possible to create a Fontan circulation at birth.
What are the indications for the Fontan procedure?
Indications. The Fontan procedure is used in pediatric patients who possess only a single functional ventricle, either due to lack of a heart valve (e.g. tricuspid or mitral atresia ), an abnormality of the pumping ability of the heart (e.g. hypoplastic left heart syndrome or hypoplastic right heart syndrome ),…
What is the Fontan procedure for heart failure?
Fontan procedure. The Fontan procedure or Fontan–Kreutzer procedure is a palliative surgical procedure used in children with univentricular hearts. It involves diverting the venous blood from the inferior vena cava (IVC) and superior vena cava (SVC) to the pulmonary arteries without passing through the morphologic right ventricle;
What happens to your blood after a Fontan procedure?
And the blood that it pumps to the body is a mix oxygen-rich blood and oxygen-poor blood. The body can’t thrive if it doesn’t get enough oxygen. After the Fontan procedure, the blood from the lower body goes directly to the lungs. The blood with high oxygen goes into the heart.