Open AccessBalloon atrial septostomy as initial therapy in pediatric pulmonary hypertension
Author(s) -
Critser Paul J.,
Evers Patrick D.,
McGovern Eimear,
Cash Michelle,
Hirsch Russel
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
pulmonary circulation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.791
H-Index - 40
ISSN - 2045-8940
DOI - 10.1177/2045894020958970
Subject(s) - medicine , pulmonary hypertension , balloon , interquartile range , surgery , lung transplantation , transplantation , refractory (planetary science) , cardiology , physics , astrobiology
Balloon atrial septostomy is a palliative procedure currently used to bridge medically refractory pulmonary hypertension patients to lung transplantation. In the current report, we present balloon atrial septostomy as an initial therapy for high‐risk pediatric pulmonary hypertension patients at our institution. Nineteen patients with median age of 4.3 years (range 0.1–14.3 years) underwent balloon atrial septostomy during initial admission for pulmonary hypertension. There were no procedural complications or deaths within 24 h of balloon atrial septostomy. Patients were followed for a median of 2.6 years (interquartile range 1.0–4.8 years). Three (16%) patients died, 3 (16%) underwent lung transplantation, and 1 (5%) underwent reverse Potts shunt. Transplant‐free survival at 30 days, 1 year, and 3 years was 84%, 76%, and 67% respectively. This single‐center experience suggests early‐BAS in addition to pharmacotherapy is safe and warrants consideration in high‐risk pediatric pulmonary hypertension patients.