CEREBROVASCULAR ACCIDENTS FOLLOWING THE FONTAN OPERATION

The Fontan operation is one of the most common cardiac operations for children with congenital heart disease beyond the first year of age, A lthough the surgical mortality of this procedure has improved over the past 2 decades, the neurologic outcome in this population is not well described, We performed a retrospective review of 645 patients who un derwent the Fontan procedure at Children's Hospital in Boston over the 15-year period between August, 1978 and July, 1993, to describe the i ncidence of postoperative cerebrovascular accidents or strokes among s urvivors, We identified 17 patients (2.6%) who suffered a stroke follo wing the Fontan operation. The risk period for stroke in our populatio n extended from the first postoperative day to 32 months after the Fon tan procedure. The pre-, intra-, and postoperative clinical features o f these patients are described.