Recoarctation After Norwood I Procedure for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome: Impact of Patch Material

The authors assessed the influence of patch material type on the incidence of recoarctation in infants undergoing Norwood I repair for hypoplastic left heart syndrome.  Among 145 patients, recoarctation developed in 18% at a median of 4.3 months.  At 2 years, freedom from recoarctation was about 85% for homograft and autologous pericardium, whereas it was 30% for equine pericardium; use of the latter was the only risk factor for recoarctation in multivariable analysis.