Primary Repair of Common Arterial Trunk: A Systematic Meta-Analysis of Short- and Long-Term Outcomes

The authors performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the pooled mortality, morbidity, and reoperation rates after common arterial trunk primary repair. Among 319 articles retrieved, 43 studies including 4,844 patients met the inclusion criteria. The pooled early mortality was 11.23 percent (95 percent CI, 9.4-13.37). There was no difference in early mortality rates between multicenter and single-center studies. A sub-analysis comparing neonatal and nonneonatal repair groups showed a significantly lower mortality rate in the neonatal group (P < .001). At follow-up, the pooled mortality was 0.72 percent per year (95 percent CI, 0.51-0.93), and the reoperation rate for the right ventricle pulmonary artery conduit was 3.4 percent per year (95 percent CI, 2.24-4.57). This meta-analysis supports the current tendency of performing primary repair during the neonatal period and can serve as a benchmark for future studies.