ABSTRACT
Right ventricle to pulmonary artery conduits are used to palliate a variety of congenital heart lesions1 and have significantly improved care for the child with complex congenital heart disease. While these conduits have allowed effective palliation for many years, there is an increasing incidence of conduit dysfunction, either stenosis or insufficiency, that ultimately limits conduit effectiveness. As a palliative intervention, conduit stenting can extend conduit lifespan.2,3
For the purposes of this chapter we will focus on complications associated with bare metal stent implantation to conduits in the setting of stenosis. Additionally, stenting of the native cardiac outflow tract as a palliative technique in newborns is under investigation and comments about the observed complications with that approach will be discussed as well. Complications of stent-valve implantation will be discussed in another section.
