This site is intended for healthcare professionals

CPD
CPD
Pro
Pro
account_circleSign in
Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Go to /pro/cpd-dashboard page

This page is worth 0.05 CPD credits. CPD dashboard

Go to /account/subscription-details page

This page is worth 0.05 CPD credits. Upgrade to Pro

Fontan operation

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

A Fontan operation is used to create a left to right shunt in congenital cardiac disease.

  • the right atrium is anastomosed to the pulmonary artery either directly or via a conduit
    • first surgical rerouting of systemic venous inflow to the pulmonary circulation without a pumping ventricle was pioneered (in humans) by Dr Francis Fontan in 1968, as a palliative approach in three adult patients with tricuspid atresia
    • lateral tunnel baffling or extracardiac total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC) is now the staged surgical treatment of congenital heart diseases (CHDs) unsuitable for biventricular circulation either due to single ventricular anatomical cluster or adverse anatomical constraints (atrial isomerism, straddling atrioventricular valves and others)
    • ~95% survival rate at 10 years after Fontan surgery is reported

Reference:

  • D'Angelo EC et al. Management of Fontan failure. Heart Published Online First: 16 August 2022. doi: 10.1136/heartjnl-2022-321006.

Create an account to add page annotations

Create a free account

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.