BACKGROUND Patients with a Fontan circulation have reduced exercise capacity and respiratory muscle strength. Inspiratory muscle training (IMT) improves exercise capacity and quality of life in adults with heart failure. We assessed whether 6 weeks of a home-based program of IMT improves inspiratory muscle strength and the ventilatory efficiency of exercise in adolescent patients with a Fontan ...

The effect of pulsatile pulmonary flow after the modified Fontan procedure was examined in a model that simulated the right heart. An inlet overflow tank (preload), axial pulsatile pump, Wind-Kessel model (afterload), and an outlet overflow tank were connected in series. The standard conditions were flow 2.00 l/min with 12 mm Hg preload pressure, 3.0 Wood units resistance, and an outlet overflo...

Protein losing enteropathy (PLE), defined as severe loss of serum protein into the intestine, occurs in 4–13% of patients after the Fontan procedure and carries a dismal prognosis with a five year survival between 46% and 59%. Chronically raised systemic venous pressure is thought to be responsible for the development of PLE in these patients, with perhaps superimposed immunological or inflamma...

OBJECTIVE This study was undertaken to compare the early and midterm outcome following completion total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC) in patients with a single functional ventricle of left or right morphology. METHODS Between August 1996 and July 2001, 103 patients underwent completion TCPC following an interim superior cavopulmonary connection. The single functional ventricle was of left (...

INTRODUCTION The Fontan operation (modified from its original version) affords excellent palliation for many patients with various forms of anatomic or functional single ventricle. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcome of our experience with the Fontan procedure in Greece. METHODS Fifty-eight consecutive patients with single ventricle physiology had a modified Fontan operation...

BACKGROUND The prevalence of thrombosis after the Fontan procedure depends upon the surgical technique used and the method of detection employed. Current investigations for thrombosis lack sensitivity and specificity or, in the paediatric population, require a general anaesthetic. We undertook a study to examine the feasibility of using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to detect thrombosis with...

OBJECTIVES The study was done to determine the prevalence of pulmonary emboli (PE) in asymptomatic adult Fontan patients and to identify the risk factors associated with PE. BACKGROUND Right atrial thrombi and systemic thromboembolic complications have been reported after the Fontan procedure. However, the frequency of silent PE in this patient population is not known. METHODS All consecuti...