Surgical treatment of single ventricle

  I. Surgical treatment (a) Ventricular separation surgery 1. Indications for surgery: mainly for children or adults with approximately normal development of the atrioventricular and arterial valves, less severe abnormalities in the position of the two major arteries, and better ventricular development.  2.Surgical techniques: Intraoperative careful observation of intraventricular morphology, subvalvular devices, and the size and location of the two atrioventricular valves, and to determine whether there is riding across and whether there is an effect on the location of the separating patch. If the right atrial incision is not well exposed, an anterior ventricular wall incision may be used. The ventricular incision should avoid the coronary vessels, and the incision should be slightly to the right wall so that the left ventricular volume is large enough and the damage to the left ventricle is reduced after separation of the ventricular cavity. Careful observation is made to determine the size and shape of the patch and the location where it can be fixed with sutures. To avoid outflow tract stenosis, the shape of the patch should be changed according to the lesion. In cases with pulmonary stenosis that are not suitable for Fontan surgery, Rastelli’s procedure can be considered in conjunction with ventricular separation.  3. Postoperative management: Ventilator-assisted breathing plus positive inotropic drugs, such as dobutamine, dobutamine, etc. and vasodilator drugs, are mostly required to treat low cardiac output and improve cardiac function. Early left atrial pressure should be maintained at 12~15 mmHg on the high side. For patients with single ventricle and the chance of biventricular correction, although this type of surgery is risky and technically demanding, the long-term outcome after surgery is better than that of Fontan series, therefore, separation surgery should be pursued. We have performed four single ventricular separation surgeries, all of which were successful. However, due to the high risk of this operation, it is prone to complications such as low cardiac output and III AV block, so the indications for the operation should be carefully selected.  (B) Fontan series surgery Nowadays, the traditional Fontan surgery is rarely used. Instead, atrial medial access total vena cava-pulmonary artery anastomosis and extracardiac conduit total cavopulmonary artery anastomosis (ECTCPC) are more frequently used. Among them, extracardiac conduit total vena cava-pulmonary artery anastomosis is suitable for cases that do not require simultaneous valvuloplasty or other intracardiac operations. The procedure is performed completely outside the heart, avoiding postoperative atrial arrhythmias and low possibility of intraatrial thrombosis; reducing atrial pressure and volume load; the procedure can be performed under parallel circulating heart beat or non-extracorporeal circulation, with simple operation and short operation time, avoiding cardiac arrest caused by The procedure can be performed under parallel or non-extracorporeal circulation, and is simple and short, avoiding myocardial ischemia and myocardial reperfusion injury caused by cardiac arrest; the intra-tubular blood flow is linear and less energy-consuming.