Morbimortality of Contegra Duct Replacements Versus Homografts in Pulmonary Position

Congenital heart diseases are nowadays frequently treated in newborns. These congenital heart defects can directly affect the right ventricular ejection tract (RVOT), or sometimes indirectly, when the left ventricular ejection tract (LVOT) is replaced by the ROVT in a Ross operation. Originally introduced by Ross and Somerville in 1966, the reconstruction of ROVT by valved homografts is since then widely used.Pulmonary and aortic homografts then constituted the gold standard in conduit replacement between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery (VD-AP). The increasing demand for homografts currently induces a shortage and unmet demands. This lack of availability, and the durability of homografts in young patients, has encouraged the search for alternative conducts.For example, in 1999, Medtronic® put a bovine jugular vein xenograft (VJB) on the market, the Contegra® conduct, as alternative for the homograft for RVOT reconstruction. This duct naturally has a central valve with three valvules, and there is on both sides of the valve a generous duct length allowing unique adaptation options. This conduit, however, is not perfect. Whether using Contegra® ducts or homografts, replacement is inevitable. The aim of this study is to compare operative morbidity and mortality when replacing Contegra® or homograft.