[Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty using balloon catheter in a Blalock-Taussig pulmonary-systemic fistula]

Abstract

Percutaneous transluminal balloon angioplasty has been used successfully in the treatment of valvular and vascular stenosis. This article describes our experience with this technique to improve pulmonary blood flow in a patient with a severely stenotic Blalock-Taussig (B-T) systemic-to-right pulmonary artery anastomosis, with improvement in oxygen peripheric saturation from 33 to 78% immediately postdilatation and 69% three months later. Hemoglobin decreased from 20.4 to 18.9 gm/dl and hematocrit from 64% to 58.5%. In conclusion we think that this technique is an alternative instead of cardiac surgery, in these cases the procedure is only palliative.