Improving guidance for the correctability of congenital shunts with increased pulmonary vascular resistance

Ronald W. Day
University of Utah and Primary Children’s Hospital
United States

International Journal of Cardiology Congenital Heart Defects
Int J Cardiol Congenit Heart Dis 2021;
doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcchd.2021.100184

Abstract
Background. Based upon expert opinion, guidelines have been proposed for the correctability of congenital cardiovascular shunts with increased pulmonary vascular resistance. This study reports the accuracy of published guidelines using a dataset from the Inhaled Nitric Oxide as a Preoperative Test study.
Methods. The hemodynamic measurements and outcome of 52 patients with relatively high pulmonary vascular resistance who underwent corrective surgery of congenital shunts were used to determine how well recent guidelines would accurately identify correctable and uncorrectable patients.
Results. The accuracy of preoperative testing was 19%, 29% and 17% using a baseline indexed pulmonary vascular resistance less than 4 WU-m2, indexed pulmonary vascular resistance less than 6 WU-m2 and ratio of pulmonary to systemic vascular indices less than 0.30 as criteria for correctable shunts, respectively. Accuracy improved to 71%, 87% and 88% by using the results of acute vasodilator testing with oxygen and nitric oxide instead of baseline measurements. The accuracy of preoperative testing was 46% and 48% using a baseline indexed pulmonary vascular resistance greater than 8 WU-m2 and a ratio of pulmonary to systemic vascular indices greater than 0.50 as criteria for uncorrectable shunts, respectively. Accuracy improved to 88% and 88% by using the results of acute vasodilator testing with oxygen and nitric oxide instead of baseline measurements.
Conclusions. Guidelines using baseline hemodynamic measurements do not provide accurate guidance for identifying patients with correctable or uncorrectable congenital cardiovascular shunts and increased pulmonary vascular resistance. The accuracy of a preoperative evaluation can be increased with acute vasodilator testing.

Category
Class 1. Pulmonary Vascular Disease Associated with Congenital Heart Disease
Diagnostic Testing for Pulmonary Vascular Disease. Invasive Testing

Age Focus: Pediatric Pulmonary Vascular Disease and Adult Pulmonary Vascular Disease

Fresh or Filed Publication: Filed (PHiled). Greater than 1-2 years since publication

Article Access
Free PDF File or Full Text Article Available Through PubMed or DOI: Yes
Open Access: doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcchd.2021.100184

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