Late emergency arterial duct stenting in a patient with tetralogy of Fallot and occluded Blalock-Taussig shunt

Abstract

Over the last decade or so, stent implantation to the arterial duct has achieved acceptance as an alternative to aortopulmonary shunt procedure. We present the case of a patient with tetralogy of Fallot with diminished pulmonary flow and complete proximal occlusion of a right-sided Blalock-Taussig shunt. Surgical repair was not possible because of relative contraindications, and the interventional shunt recanalisation attempt was unsuccessful. The coronary stent was implanted into arterial duct. This resulted in oxygen saturation increase with normal contrast flow to the left pulmonary artery and right pulmonary artery (prior to the procedure we suspected non-confluent pulmonary artery). This brief report evaluates the feasibility of this new therapeutical option in such special patients with duct-dependent pulmonary blood flow. (Cardiol J 2011; 18, 1: 87-89)