Late Pulmonary Valve Replacement in Congenital Heart Disease Patients Without Original Congenital Pulmonary Valve Pathology

Many congenital heart defects with pulmonary valve pathology are repaired or palliated in childhood. It is anticipated that these patients will need subsequent pulmonary valve replacement due to the pulmonary regurgitation or right ventricular dilation/failure that results from their original operation. Interestingly, some patients with prior congenital heart surgery and no congenital pulmonary valve pathology require pulmonary valve replacement in adulthood. The current study analyzed this subset of patients. The pediatric and adult congenital cardiac surgical databases at a large academic center were reviewed from 2001 to 2008 for pulmonary valve replacements. Patients without congenital pulmonary valve disease were identified. Preoperative, operative, and postoperative data were analyzed. Between 2001 and 2008, five patients with congenital heart disease but no pulmonary valve pathology underwent late pulmonary valve replacement. The initial congenital diagnoses were coarctation/ventricular septal defect (n = 3), complete atrioventricular septal defect (n = 1), and anomalous left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (PA) (n = 1). All five patients had undergone main PA manipulation during their previous operations. Four of these patients had received PA banding and debanding, and one had received a Takeuchi tunnel repair and revision. All the patients underwent pulmonary valve replacement secondary to pulmonary regurgitation and right ventricular dilation. The average time from the last previous operation to the time of pulmonary valve replacement was 20.8 ± 9.1 years. Bioprosthetic valves were used for all the pulmonary valve replacements, and there were no mortalities. Patients who have undergone previous PA manipulation, regardless whether congenital pulmonary pathology is present, may be at risk for pulmonary valve replacement in adulthood. This report describes five cases of patients with a history of congenital heart surgery but no congenital pulmonary valve pathology who required pulmonary valve replacement due to the consequences of prolonged pulmonary regurgitation. Although pulmonary regurgitation may be well tolerated for many years, it is further evidence for the importance of close follow-up assessment and monitoring of young adults with congenital heart disease.