waterston shunt

A Waterston shunt is a form of palliative surgery performed in patients with tetralogy of Fallot prior to the ability to repair the defect. It consists of a shunt formed between the ascending aorta and the right pulmonary artery.

This does not relieve the right ventricular outflow obstruction, but simply improves pulmonary blood flow and improves cyanosis.

A significant demerit of this shunt is that it is not a controlled shunt, if anastomosis is too large it may lead to pulmonary vascular disease due to excessive blood flow to the lung.

Siehe auch:

• Aorta ascendens

und weiter:

• paediatric cardiovascular procedures