High Incidence Of Fever In Patients After BioIntegral Pulmonic Valved
Conduit Implantation
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to describe our short-term outcomes
using BioIntegral pulmonic conduit. METHODS Between August 2018 and
September 2019, the BioIntegral pulmonic valved conduit was used for
right ventricular outflow tract reconstruction in 48 patients. The data
was retrospectively retrieved from the patient charts. RESULTS The
median age at the operation was 36 months (IQR:18-62 months). The
diagnoses were PA-VSD in 28 patients, absent pulmonary valve in four
patients, truncus arteriosus in six patients, TGA-VSD-PS in five
patients, conduit stenosis in three patients and LVOT obstruction
requiring Ross operation in two patients. In the postoperative follow-up
15 patients out of 48 had high fever. Out of these, 12 patients had
concomitantly elevated CRP levels. There were no patients with blood
culture positivity. The median postoperative length of hospital stay was
14 days (IQR:8-21 days). The overall mortality was recorded in 2
patients (4 %), one died due to right ventricular failure and multiple
organ failure and one died due to pulmonary embolism. The two patients
who died were not among the 15 patients with fever. CONCLUSIONS There
was high incidence of fever and adverse outcomes in the short-term
postoperative follow-up of the patients in whom the BioIntegral pulmonic
valved conduit was implanted. Caution is advisable in using these
conduits until there is convincing evidence about the sterilisation and
storage standards of these grafts.