RIGHT-VENTRICULAR FUNCTION AND EXERCISE PERFORMANCE LATE AFTER PRIMARY REPAIR OF TETRALOGY OF FALLOT WITH THE TRANSANNULAR PATCH IN INFANCY

To evaluate the late effects of chronic pulmonary regurgitation agains t the putative benefits from the current surgical trend of primary rep air of tetralogy of Fallot with a transannular patch in infancy, 10 pa tients >10 years after early primary repair and 7 matched normal contr ols underwent exercise stress test and cine magnetic resonance imaging assessment of ventricular functions. Right ventricular impaired diast olic function and decreased exercise capacity, both significantly asso ciated with pulmonary regurgitation in patients, indicated that early primary repair of tetralogy may not prevent late ventricular dysfuncti on and diminished exercise performance if chronic regurgitation result s from right ventricular outflow tract reconstruction.